Paul Pierce, just like many other celebrities over the past two years, has promoted cryptocurrency on his Twitter account. Typically, these promotions are always of the same vein. A celebrity will claim that a specific token is really good. Subsequently, people will buy that coin thinking they may become rich. Overall, this pumps up the celebrity’s portfolio before they sell off their coins and leave their followers holding the bag. Not every promotion is like this, however, many have been accused of leading their followers astray.
According to TMZ, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been coming after Pierce for his promotion of EMAX tokens. The SEC claims that Pierce was not forthcoming of the fact that the creators of the token had paid him almost $250K to promote the coin. Due to these infractions, Pierce will now have to pay a massive fine of $1.4 million.
Paul Pierce Punished
“This case is yet another reminder to celebrities: The law requires you to disclose to the public from whom and how much you are getting paid to promote investment in securities, and you can’t lie to investors when you tout a security,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said, according to the outlet. “When celebrities endorse investment opportunities, including crypto asset securities, investors should be careful to research if the investments are right for them, and they should know why celebrities are making those endorsements.” Simply put, the SEC is making an example out of Pierce, and they hope to do the same with others.
It remains to be seen which other celebrities might be caught, moving forward. After all, the cryptocurrency space is a bit of a mess right now, and there are plenty of people out there who promoted a varied amount of coins. Only time will tell who the SEC will go after next. Let us know what you think about this, in the comments below. Also, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the sports world.
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