Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, Paul Pierce Sued Over Promoting Ethereum Knockoff Coin To Followers

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and Paul Pierce — celebrities who promoted the Ethereum ETH/USD knockoff coin Ethereum Max EMAX/USD — have been sued.

What Happened: New York resident Ryan Huegerich and other plaintiffs filed the class-action lawsuit against the celebrities in a district court in California. The investors purchased EMAX tokens between May 14, 2021, and June 27, 2021. 

The complaint was posted on classaction.org, a consumer resource for class action lawsuits. 

“Defendants touted the prospects of the Company [EMAX] and the ability for investors to make significant returns due to the favorable 'tokenomics' of the EMAX Tokens,” the complaint stated.

“In truth, Defendants marketed the EMAX Tokens to investors so that they could sell their portion of the Float for a profit,” alleged the plaintiffs.

Not only has New York resident Huegerich sued the celebrities but he is also suing the as-of-yet unknown corporate entity behind EMAX tokens.

“Plaintiff will identify the appropriate Corporate Defendant through discovery of the Executive Defendants,” as per the complaint.

See Also: How To Buy Ethereum (ETH)
Why It Matters: EMAX touched an all-time high of $0.000000597636 in May last year, according to CoinGecko data. At press time it traded 96.9% below that level at $0.0000000185.

In June, Kardashian touted EMAX to her followers on Instagram through a story asking them “Are you guys into crypto???? This is not financial advice but sharing what my friends just told me about the Ethereum Max token!”

Kardashian’s touting EMAX on Instagram had a 19% conversion rate, according to a survey from Morning Consult.

In September, United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority Chair Charles Randell alluded to Kardashian’s post and accused influencers of fueling “delusions of quick riches.”

Pierce’s promotion of EMAX came in the form of a Tweet dating back to May in which he took a dig at his former employer ESPN.

Mayweather sported an EthereumMax logo during an exhibition boxing match in which he faced the YouTuber Logan Paul.

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Photo: Courtesy of Eva Rinaldi via Flickr