In an announcement from the United States government, famous reality star Kim Kardashian will be required to pay a fine of over $1 million to settle a case that involves cryptocurrency. A press release from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states that the fines and penalties for Kardashian will total $1.26 million.
These fines come from claims that she allegedly used her social media presence to market and advertise crypto assets from EthereumMax without disclosing her affiliate status. In other words, she did not explicitly say she was being paid for the marketing and promotion of the crypto.
Currently, Kardashian has not admitted nor denied any of the claims. Still, she is paying the $1.26 million in order to settle. Furthermore, she has agreed not to advertise anything crypto-related for up to three years.
According to the SEC, Kardashian was given $250,000 to make an Instagram post that publicized EthereumMax tokens without any disclosure that she was doing paid promotion. Her reach is quite influential, with over 330 million Instagram followers, so this is a serious accusation.
Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, has stated that the case should remind others to always do their research when it comes to influencer endorsements. Laws for federal securities state that any individual that promotes crypto assets must publicly announce the “nature, source, and amount of compensation they received.”