NBA Star Paul Pierce to Pay $1.4M in Penalties for Promoting EthereumMax
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged former NBA player Paul Pierce with violating anti-fraud and anti-touting rules by promoting the EthereumMax cryptocurrency. Pierce has agreed to settle the charges and pay $1.409 million in penalties.
The SEC has charged the NFT star for touting EMAX tokens, cryptocurrencies sold by EthereumMax, on social media without disclosing the payment he received for the promotion and for making false and misleading statements regarding the token, according to a Friday press release.
The commission detailed that Pierce received more than $244,000 worth of EMAX tokens to promote the project on Twitter. On one special occasion, Pierce tweeted a screenshot of an account showing large holdings and profits without disclosing that it was not his own personal holdings.
The NBA star agreed to settle the charges by paying $1.4 million in penalties, disgorgement and interest "without admitting or denying the SEC's findings," the commission said. Pierce also agreed not to tout any crypto assets for three years. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said:
"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."
Pierce is an NBA Hall of Famer from California who played 19 seasons, mostly with the Boston Celtics. He was fired from ESPN in April 2021 after he posted a video in which he was at a gathering with strippers.
EthereumMax, not to be confused with Ethereum, was a speculative digital token created in May 2021 by unknown developers. The project was promoted by a number of high-profile celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and
Read more on cryptonews.com
