(Bloomberg) - Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were sued for allegedly scamming investors in a cryptocurrency called EthereumMax.
The reality television star and ex-boxing champion were paid to hype the blockchain-based digital tokens to their fans, “causing investors to purchase these losing investments at inflated prices,” according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court. Former Boston Celtic Paul Pierce was also named as a defendant in the suit.
Kardashian was called out in September by a U.K. financial regulator for luring her 250 million Instagram followers into the “cryptobubble with delusions of quick riches.”
Mayweather, one of his sport’s most recognizable personalities, has previously run afoul of regulators for promoting cryptocurrency investments. He was fined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018 for touting initial coin offerings on social media without disclosing that he’d been paid to do so.
Representatives for Kardashian and Mayweather didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Pierce couldn’t be reached for comment. The Jan. 7 suit was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.
EMAX is described in the lawsuit as a “speculative digital token created by a mysterious group of cryptocurrency developers,” who are also named as defendants in the case.
“EthereumMax has no connection to the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum,” according to a footnote in the complaint. “It would be akin to marketing a restaurant as ‘McDonald’sMax’ when it had no affiliation with McDonald’s other than the name similarity and the fact that both companies sell food products.”
The case was filed as a proposed class action on behalf of everyone who bought EMAX tokens from mid-May to late June. The complaint cites violations of California consumer-protection laws and seeks restitution for “the difference between the purchase price of the EMAX Tokens and the price those EMAX Tokens sold for.”
The case is Huegerich v. Gentile, 22-cv-00163, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
By Peter Blumberg
