Though the crypto space has seemingly moved beyond the endorsements many minor celebrities bestowed on token projects during the 2018 initial coin offering boom, its growing popularity and acceptance now has professional sports players, Hollywood elites and politicians backing major companies dealing with digital assets.

In June 2021, Kim Kardashian promoted EthereumMax (EMAX) via an Instagram story shared with her more than 200 million followers. The token, which was used as payment for online ticket purchases for some pay-per-view events, gained 116,000% in just one week following the celebrity’s activity before falling more than 99% and leaving many investors in the red.

Though EthereumMax is somewhat of a cautionary tale for crypto newbies looking to get involved in the space, it also represents one of the select times a major international figure outside of finance and politics not only spoke about digital assets but actively promoted a specific project for a fee — the story was labeled as an ad. Kardashian, recognized by many as an A-list celebrity, rose to fame largely outside of Hollywood circles, so her seeming stamp of approval on a token project was a surprise to many.

Others in film and television entered the crypto space for the first time in 2021 following months of time spent mostly indoors during the worst waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mila Kunis, an actress famous for her roles in That '70s Show and Family Guy, launched an animated nonfungible token (NFT) project based on cats who drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. However, the biggest endorsement of a crypto firm last year arguably came from film star Matt Damon, who appeared in a global ad spot for Crypto.com.

Sports franchises also branched into crypto,