Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million in a crypto-related fine to the SEC. Here are other high-profile celebrities who have backed recent crypto ventures.
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Kim Kardashian agreed to pay the SEC $1.26 million related to an Instagram post promoting crypto.
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While most celebrities have stayed quiet about crypto assets as prices collapse, Kardashian isn’t the only star to claim it in recent years.
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See other celebrities who have publicly supported crypto, from Lebron James to Larry David.
Kim Kardashian will pay a hefty fine related to a crypto campaign that the SEC said violated rules.
Kardashian settled with the agency for $1.26 million after she promoted EthereumMax on Instagram in June 2021 and failed to disclose that she was paid $250,000.
“This case is a reminder that when celebrities or influencers endorse investment opportunities, including securities in cryptoassets, that does not mean those investment products are right for all investors,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler
The price of bitcoin and other cryptoassets, including NFTs, has collapsed since rising to new highs in 2021.
While most celebrities have been tight-lipped about their support for crypto in recent months, Kardashian wasn’t the only mega-celebrity to publicly support a crypto-related asset in the past two years. Check out some other notable examples.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon’s first foray into cryptocurrency came with a Super Bowl commercial for Crypto.com earlier this year.
The ad went viral for comparing cryptocurrency to some of humanity’s greatest achievements, such as the invention of the airplane or space exploration.
If people invested in crypto after watching Damon’s commercial when it first aired, their investments would be down significantly today.
Reese Witherspoon
In December 2021, the actress tweeted“crypto is here to stay. I am committed to supporting creators who have pioneered the NFT space and encouraging more women to be part of the conversation.”
Earlier this year, Witherspoon’s media company, Hello Sunshine, announced a partnership with World of Women, an NFT collective featuring artwork from female creators.
As part of the partnership, Hello Sunshine will use NFT characters in movies and TV shows, Variety reports.
Tom Brady
Tom Brady regularly promotes cryptocurrency projects, and even changes his profile picture on Twitter to the laser eyes meme, a symbolic way to show support for Bitcoin.
Brady co-founded an NFT agency called Autograph, which raised $170 million in Series B funding.
In April of this year, Brady bought a Bored Ape NFT, a celebrity favorite, for $430,000.
Naomi Osaka
In May of this year, FTX announced that Naomi Osaka would become an ambassador for the crypto exchange, along with other famous athletes such as Tom Brady and Steph Curry.
Osaka now wears a patch with the company’s name while playing professional tennis as part of the partnership.
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon has been an enthusiastic supporter of Bored Ape NFTs, even briefly changing his Twitter profile picture to his Bored Ape avatar and discussing NFTs on his late-night NBC talk show, “The Tonight Show.” Fallon also owns at least two other NFTs.
Post Malone
Post Malone is another supporter of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Last fall, the musician bought two Bored Apes for $700,000.
He featured the two monkeys in the music video for his song “One Right Now” featuring The Weeknd.
Larry David
This year, Larry David starred in a Superbowl commercial for FTX suggesting to viewers to invest in cryptocurrency.
After the price of crypto began to collapse, Jeff Schaffer, David’s longtime partner and director of advertising, told the New York Times that neither he nor David knew much about crypto.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we have anything to add since we have no idea how cryptocurrency works (even after having it explained to us repeatedly), don’t own it, and don’t follow the market,” he said. “We just set out to make a fun commercial!” he said.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather Jr. has been promoting crypto for years, but more than once he found himself in hot water for his advertising methods.
CNN reports that the pro boxer was sued along with Kim Kardashian for his promotion of EthereumMax, although a settlement for his participation has yet to be announced.
In 2018, Mayweather Jr. agreed to pay the SEC more than $600,000 in fines for failing to disclose payments he received to promote several ICOs, or Initial Coin Offerings.
Stephen Curry
Steph Curry has starred in commercials for FTX as an ambassador for the exchange.
Last year, Curry told Bloomberg that he believed crypto could be harnessed for economic opportunity and social mobility.
Curry also owns a Bored Ape NFT, which he bought for $180,000 last summer.
LeBron James
LeBron James and the LeBron James Family Foundation announced a multi-year partnership with Crypto.com earlier this year. James starred in a commercial for the company, in which he had a conversation with his younger self about the future.
Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis has expressed her desire to push women to invest in NFTs, calling crypto a “very masculine area” on a podcast with Conan O’Brien.
Kunis produced a show called “Stoner Cats,” which can only be seen by people who buy one of the show’s NFTs. Vitalik Buterin, who co-founded one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, voices one of the characters in the show.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg entered the crypto world early.
He embraced Bitcoin back in 2013, tweeting“My next record available in bitcoin n delivered in a drone.”
Earlier this year, the musician announced that he planned to turn Death Row Records, a label he bought earlier this year, into a “NFT company.”
Madonna
Earlier this year, Madonna teamed up with Beeple, the digital artist whose NFT sold for $69 million at auction, to release a graphic NFT collection that includes NSFW images of the Queen of Pop giving birth to a tree.
The photos, which were auctioned in May amid the collapse in crypto prices, sold for significantly less than expected, according to the New York Post.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton went all in on NFTs in the last two years, but she has been investing in crypto for years.
In April 2021, Hilton launched her own NFT collection, with one selling for over $1.11 million, according to CNBC.
Hilton once told The Guardian that she owns more than 150 NFTs.
Mindy Kaling
In January, Fortune reported that Kaling signed on to become an “entertainment advisor” to notable cryptocurrency investor Katie Haun.
Kaling also invests in bitcoin mining company TeraWulf.
Justin Bieber
In January of this year, Bieber bought a Bored Ape NFT for $1.29 million, well above the asking price, according to Bitcoin.com.
Bieber is also an investor in crypto fintech startup MoonPay, which also counts Gwyneth Paltrow, Snoop Dogg and Ashton Kutcher as stakeholders.
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