Keeping Up with the Cryptdashians
As more celebrities dip their toes in the cryptocurrency world, some are undoubtedly going to happen. Case in point: now Kim Kardashian is getting sued for a “pump and dump” scam involving a bogus altcoin.
The reality TV star was sued, along with boxer Floyd Mayweather and basketball player Paul Pierce, for promoting a crypto that allegedly made its creators very wealthy at the expense of its investors, .
According to , the people behind the crypto EthereumMax (EMAX) used it as part of a “pump and dump” scam. This is a type of fraud in which creators of an asset like stocks — or, in this case, crypto — artificially inflate its value to sell it at a high cost before leaving the investors with nothing.
Dirty Money
Both Mayweather and Pierce promoted the crypto in May 2021 — after which the price of the crypto rose by an eye-popping 632 percent, .
Then the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star boosted the crypto via her Instagram Story, in a post that included a disclaimer that it was a paid advertisement. The day after she promoted it, though, the price of EMAX completely crashed.
Kim Kardashian is being sued for helping promote an alleged “pump and dump” crypto scam via her Instagram Story. Here’s a screenshot of the post in question promoting the bogus Ethereum Max token. pic.twitter.com/uOos6gV66V
— Tony Ho Tran (@TonyHoWasHere) January 12, 2022
Of course, it’s highly unlikely that Kardashian, Mayweather, or Pierce knew that the crypto was completely bogus. Endorsements are just an easy way for celebrities to make money. However, it’s undoubtedly a bad look for them, and shows that influencers seldom have your best interests in mind.
As cryptocurrencies start to gain more popularity and recognition than ever, we can certainly expect more bad actors to take advantage of celebrity idiots to hocktheir schemes. Let’s just hope it stays more in the realm of and out of the courtroom.
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