According to court documents filed on Jan 7, an investor is suing Kim Kardashian; boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Hall of Fame basketball player Paul Pierce; and the cofounders of Ethereum Max for allegedly conspiring to promote the cryptocurrency last spring via a pump-and-dump scam.
Ryan Huegerich, the investor, filed the federal lawsuit in the Central District of California as a class action “on behalf of all investors who acquired EthereumMax tokens (“EMAX Tokens”) between May 14, 2021 and June 27, 2021 and were harmed as a result.” He is looking for investors to participate in the class.
Kardashian endorsed the newly issued currency to her then-228 million Instagram followers on June 14, 2021. On that day, trading volume increased 35% to US$30 million, while the price plummeted 17% from US$0.00000023, according to coinmarketcap.
In May, Mayweather and Pierce marketed EMAX. The claim says that the three celebrities were compensated in cash or tokens for their marketing. Today, EthereumMax’s price has plunged by 98 percent from its high.
Celebrities and influencers have fallen afoul of the US Securities and Exchange Commission for promoting cryptocurrency, including Mayweather and DJ Khaled, who together paid US$767,500 in fines and penalties in 2018. Elon Musk reacted earlier this year to claims that the SEC was investigating him for his tweets praising Dogecoin. “I really hope they do! “That would be incredible,” he tweeted.
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