In Brief:
- Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and Paul Pierce are getting sued for allegedly promoting Ethereum Max tokens.
- The filing says the promotion by celebrities caused losses to investors who purchased the tokens between May 14 and June 27, 2021.
- John T. Jasnoch filed the class action complaint on behalf of plaintiff Ryan Huegerich, an EthereumMax investor.
Kim Kardashian, boxer Floyd Mayweather, and former NBA star Paul Pierce are getting sued for allegedly promoting Ethereum Max(EMAX) tokens.
The lawsuit argues that the celebrities tricked their followers into buying EthereumMax tokens, only to sell them once their value was inflated.
The filing says that this pump and dump scheme by celebrities caused losses to plaintiff Ryan Huegerich, a New York resident, and other investors who purchased EthereumMax tokens.
Scammers use false or misleading information to inflate the price of an asset in a pump and dump scheme.
John T. Jasnoch of Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law LLP filed the class action complaint on behalf of Huegerich, aiming to represent those who purchased tokens between May 14 and June 27, 2021.
In a highly publicized post on Twitter on May 26, former NBA star Pierce promoted EthereumMax amid a dispute with ESPN, where he used to work as an analyst.
Pierce openly criticized ESPN, claiming that he “made more money with this crypto in the past month than I did with y’all in a year.”
According to the lawsuit, EthereumMax announced on the same day that it was the exclusive cryptocurrency accepted for online ticket purchases for Mayweather’s fight with Logan Paul.
People who bought tickets with EMAX tokens were offered a variety of incentives, including boxing gloves signed by Mayweather and the chance to attend his afterparty.
Mayweather wore an Ethereum Max t-shirt to the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami in June, despite organizers asking guests to avoid discussion of non-BTC assets.
On June 14, Kardashian posted about EthereumMax with her 250 million Instagram followers, which has nothing to do with the well-known cryptocurrency Ethereum.
“Are you guys into crypto???? This is not financial advice but sharing what my friends just told me about the Ethereum Max token!” she posted.
Kardashian’s post includes the hashtag #ad, implying that she was paid to promote it. It’s unclear how much Kardashian was paid by EthereumMax.
According to a survey conducted by financial services firm Morning Consult, up to 21% of all American people and nearly half of all cryptocurrency owners saw the advertisement, and 19% of those who saw it invested in EthereumMax as a result.
On May 31, 2021, Ethereum Max reached a high of $0.000000597636 before plummeting by more than 80% in just 11 days. It then mounted around the time of Kardashian’s post in mid-June before plummeting much more.
It has lost nearly 97 percent of its value since its peak and now sells for an even more insignificant $0.000000017659.
The class action complaint, which names EthereumMax executives Steve Gentile, Giovanni Perone, Justin French, alleges common law over aiding and abetting, violations of state consumer protection laws, and unjust enrichment.
All the people getting sued have yet not commented on the issue so their stance still remains unclear.
Just a few days before Pakistani investors became the victims of a huge bitcoin scam. As per reports, Pakistan’s top law enforcement agency has issued a notice to Binance in relation to a scam that cost Pakistanis $100 million.
