Paul Pierce Faces Ethereum Max-Related Lawsuit

Paul Pierce – a player for the Boston Celtics basketball team – is in trouble after he was paid to endorse a supposedly shady cryptocurrency known as Ethereum Max.

Paul Pierce Is in Hot Crypto Water

Pierce is currently facing a lawsuit for his role with the currency, and Ethereum Max has led to the downfall of several celebrities who have potentially gotten caught up promoting the asset without knowing much about it. Among the other famous faces responsible for pushing Ethereum Max onto unsuspecting crypto traders are Kim Kardashian and boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Kardashian recently found herself under fire with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after she posted a message about Ethereum Max on her Instagram account. The FCA took issue with the post claiming that Kardashian failed to disclose the fact that Ethereum Max was not associated with Ethereum and thus far more speculative than most other cryptocurrencies.

In a statement, the FCA claimed:

She didn’t have to disclose that Ethereum Max — not to be confused with Ethereum — was a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers, one of hundreds of such tokens that fill the crypto exchanges. Social media influencers are routinely paid by scammers to help them pump and dump new tokens on the back of pure speculation.

A recent report issued by David Yaffe-Bellany – a New York Times author – explains that several celebrities have promoted that asset and have since fallen into hot water. The document explains:

Even celebrities who disclose crypto payments have found themselves in legal trouble. Last summer, Ms. Kardashian endorsed Ethereum Max in an Instagram post with a brief disclaimer at the bottom: ‘#ad.’ Few crypto insiders had heard of Ethereum Max, which is different from Ethereum, one of the most popular crypto platforms. The promotion led to a surge of trading, but Ethereum Max’s price soon collapsed.

Pierce is accused of using his fame – along with individuals like Kardashian and Mayweather – to lure investors in. From there, the price of Ethereum Max went bust, and it is claimed that the asset may have been a rug pull or a pump and dump scheme. According to the lawsuit he’s now facing, Pierce received as many as 15 million Ethereum Max tokens in exchange for tweeting about the coin and talking about it on social media.

How Big Was His Role?

It is unknown at the time of writing whether Pierce knew if the coin was going to potentially crash. The report goes on to say:

None of the tweets excerpted in the lawsuit mentioned a business relationship with the token’s creators. Shortly after promoting the project, the lawsuit claimed, Mr. Pierce sold his tokens – an apparent ‘pump and dump’ operation in which he profited by encouraging fans to buy the tokens before selling his own holdings at a higher price.

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