Entrepreneur and reality star Kim Kardashian and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. don't have, as far as anyone knows, much to do with any mutual relationship or friendship.
But now they face something together that neither of them expected: a lawsuit.
The two popular characters are the subject of a complaint filed on January 7 in Los Angeles, California, and for which they are accused of fraudulently promoting a cryptocurrency, so much so that it caused those who acquired it to lose large amounts of money, partly spurred on by advertisements for Kardashian and Mayweather, among others.
The lawsuit has been filed by a New York individual who lost money and is seeking restitution, as well as an apology. He himself encourages others to join those who have bought this cryptocurrency between May and June 2021, in order to convert the lawsuit into a class action lawsuit. In it it is stated that the two celebrities explicitly advertised a cryptocurrency sold by EthereumMax, according to the Reuters agency. With their ads they wanted the price of the currency to rise and thus achieve certain profits "at the expense of their followers and investors."
"Company executives, in collaboration with several famous promoters ... made false or misleading statements about EthereumMax through social media ads and other promotional activities," the lawsuit states, according to Reuters. With these procedures, potential clients are encouraged to invest quickly and massively in a cryptocurrency that is little known, so its price swells and, when it has risen a lot, the fastest resell it, which makes its value sinks very quickly and therefore the rest of buyers lose a good part of their money. If you look at the evolution of the currency, indeed in May —when they announced it— its price had a great climb, but at the end of that month, and especially at the end of June, it plummeted.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a match against Logan Paul held on June 6, 2021 in which he wore the pants advertising the cryptocurrency Ethereum Max.USA TODAY Network (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports / S / Cordon Press)
In June 2021, when Kardashian had 228 million followers on Instagram (she now has almost 280), she posted an ad on her short stories saying, "Guys, are you in the
crypto
?"
and then explained: "That is not financial advice but I want to share what my friends have just told me about the EthereumMax currency", and then explain that the company had just put 400 billion
tokens
into circulation (that is, units of his coins), which was 50% of his portfolio, and that he had made all of this available to his community.
The businesswoman accompanied the publication with a disclaimer, dropping that "it is not financial advice", as well as the #ad tag (advertisement, in English).
For his part, Mayweather promoted the coin by displaying its name on the waistband of his boxing shorts during a fight.
The evolution of EthereumMax against the dollar since mid-May 2021.COINMARKETCAP
In addition to the television star and the boxer, there is also another defendant, former NBA player Paul Pierce, who at the end of May 2021 posted a tweet in which he said: “ESPN [sports television network], I don't need you.
I have Ethereum Max, last month I made more money with this cryptocurrency than with you in a year: The truth will set you free.
My own boss.
Check it out for yourself ”, next to a link to the EthereumMax website.
The company itself, EthereumMax, is also cited in the lawsuit.
Although neither Kardashian nor Mayweather (or their agents and representatives) have said anything about it, the cryptocurrency company has.
"The misleading narrative associated with the recent accusations is riddled with misinformation about the EthereumMax project," he said in a statement, assuring that they will "discuss the allegations" and also hope that "the truth will come to light."
