Keeping Up with the Cryptdashians
As more celebrities dip their toes in the cryptocurrency world, some weird things 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, CNBC reports.
According to the lawsuit, 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, according to Gizmodo.
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.
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 hock their schemes. Let’s just hope it stays more in the realm of weird crypto commercials and out of the courtroom.
READ MORE: Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather sued by investors over alleged crypto scam [CNBC]
More on crypto crimes: Hackers Just Stole Nearly $200 MIllion from a Crypto Exchange, in the Second Heist in Two Weeks