Former NBA star Paul Pierce agreed to a $1.4M settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations that he unlawfully promoted cryptocurrency securities. Pierce made public statements on Twitter promoting EthereumMax (EMAX) without disclosing that he was paid with EMAX tokens worth more than $244,000.
Pierce agreed to pay a $1.1M penalty and to disgorge "approximately $240,000."
- He did not admit to or deny any wrongdoing as part of the agreement.
- He will be barred from promoting crypto products for three years.
- SEC Gary Gensler said that "the law requires you to disclose to the public from whom and how much you are getting paid to promote investment in securities."
- Pierce is also alleged to have shared misleading screenshots of his EMAX holdings and profits, with the SEC saying that his personal holdings were actually far lower than the screenshots showed.
- In a May 2021, Pierce tweeted: "@espn I don't need you... I got @ethereum_max I made more money with this crypto in the past month then I did with y’all in a year."
Kim Kardashian was also charged by the SEC for unlawfully promoting EthereumMax.
