Kim Kardashian took $250k to tout a crypto token — the SEC billed her $1.26M for it

EthereumMax paid Kim Kardashian $250,000 to promote its EMAX token to her Instagram followers — a post with a link to the EthereumMax site and instructions on how to buy. The post did not disclose that she was paid, by whom, or how much. On 3 October 2022 the SEC charged her under Section 17(b)'s anti-touting provision, which requires anyone who promotes a security to reveal the nature, source and amount of the compensation they received.

Kardashian settled without admitting or denying the findings: disgorgement of the fee plus prejudgment interest and a $1 million penalty — $1.26 million in total — and an agreement not to promote any crypto asset security for three years. Enforcement director Gurbir Grewal said investors 'are entitled to know whether the publicity of a security is unbiased'. Her lawyer said she was 'pleased to have resolved this matter' and had cooperated from the start.

The backdrop was a January 2022 investor lawsuit alleging that Kardashian, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and others promoted the token in a pump-and-dump: celebrity hype lifted the price, and 'the fall was as dramatic as the rise'. The SEC settlement became the standing warning for influencer campaigns — disclosure is mandatory, and no follower count buys an exemption.