Why Kim Kardashian Is Fined Over N450 Million

By Tolulope Oke

American reality star, Kim Kardashian, has been fined $1.26 million (over N450 million) for publishing a cryptocurrency advertisement on her Instagram profile without declaring the payment she received for the promotion.

The creator of SKIMS was charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission after she promoted the cryptocurrency asset EthereumMax on her social networking platform, according to ABC.

A class-action lawsuit was brought last January in a California U.S. District Court on behalf of investors who contend they lost money as a result of the celebrities’ promotion of the cryptocurrency, with Kim being one of several celebrities listed.

The irate plaintiffs in the lawsuit stated that they had bought cryptocurrencies after “seeing multiple celebrity endorsements of EMAX.”

The SEC claims that Kardashian failed to disclose that she received $250,000 in exchange for writing an article on EthereumMax’s EMAX tokens, a type of digital asset security.

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While the case is still pending, Kardashian has consented to a $1.26 million settlement.

In its announcement on Monday, the commission noted that Kim’s settlement includes a $1 million fine in addition to the cash she got for promoting the cryptocurrency.

The business tycoon also consented to stop endorsing any crypto asset securities for the following three years.

According to a statement provided to ABC News by Kim’s attorney, the billionaire made the decision to pay in order to prevent “a protracted litigation”.

The release read in part, “Ms. Kardashian is pleased to have resolved this matter with the SEC. Kardashian fully cooperated with the SEC from the very beginning and she remains willing to do whatever she can to assist the SEC in this matter.

“She wanted to get this matter behind her to avoid a protracted dispute. The agreement she reached with the SEC allows her to do that so that she can move forward with her many different business pursuits.”