Kim Kardashian settles SEC crypto charges for $1.26 million

A celebrity paid promo for social media has gone completely wrong.

Kim Kardashian is being charged by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission for "promoting a cryptocurrency without disclosing that she had been paid for the promotion," Axios confirms, adding that she "has agreed to pay $1.26 million as part of a settlement."

Kim was paid $250,000 to publish an EthereumMax crypto post on Instagram — and that's part of what she will now be paying to the SEC, plus interest and an additional $1 million penalty. The Instagram post that she published read: "Are you guys into crypto? This is not financial advice but sharing what my friends told me about the Ethereum max token," CNN reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Her attorney said she "fully cooperated with the SEC" in an effort to "move forward" with her other business ventures. In addition to the settlement, she's also "agreed to not promote any cryptocurrencies for the next three years."

Axios says federal officials have gotten more strict about holding celebrities accountable for crypto endorsements. Floyd Meriwether and Paul Piece were also "named [as] defendants in a civil suit related to [the] promotion of EMAX tokens."

"This case is a reminder that, when celebrities or influencers endorse investment opportunities, including crypto-asset securities, it doesn't mean that those investment products are right for all investors," SEC Chair Gary Gensler told CNN. "We encourage investors to consider an investment's potential risks and opportunities in light of their own financial goals."