The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against actress Lindsay Lohan, YouTuber Jake Paul, and six other celebrities for promoting cryptocurrencies on social media without revealing that they were being paid to do so.
The accusations are part of a case against businessman Justin Sun for manipulating cryptocurrency trading on his platform and for selling Tronix and BitTorrent assets without registering with the necessary authorities.
Since the spectacular fall of market leader FTX at the end of last year, the enforcer of US financial market regulations has increased its crackdown on cryptocurrencies, and this case is just one of many.
According to the SEC, Sun tried to boost Tronix by making it appear as though there was secondary market activity by having his own employees purchase and sell the asset.
“This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a statement.
According to Gensler, Sun also used a campaign in which he and his famous promoters concealed the fact that they received payment for their tweets to persuade investors to buy cryptocurrency.
Lohan and Paul decided to pay fines and restitution totaling $40,670 and $101,887, respectively, without acknowledging or disputing their guilt.
Actress Michele Mason, also known as Kendra Lust in the world of pornographic movies, rapper Lil Yachty (Miles Parks McCollum), and singers Ne-Yo (Shaffer Smith) and Akon (Aliaune Thiam) have all decided to settle the case as well.
The settlement did not include YouTube vocalist Austin Mahone or rapper Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way).
