US SEC fines former NBA Star Paul Pierce $1.4M for crypto

• The US SEC crypto crackdown does not seem to be fizzling out any time soon.
• Former NBA star Paul Pierce has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle charges levelled against him by the SEC.
• The charges levelled on Pierce are related to the promotion of EMAX tokens

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 17 announced through a press release that it was charging former NBA star Paul Pierce for promoting cryptocurrency. The development came right on the heels of a string of fines by the SEC targeting crypto firms including the recent wells notice to Paxos for issuing Binance USD stablecoin.

In a tweet the SEC said:

“Today we announced charges against former NBA player Paul Pierce for touting EMAX tokens on social media without disclosing the payment he received for the promotion and for making false and misleading promotional statements about the same crypto asset.”

Paul Pierce agrees to settle the penalty

Paul Pierce early today has agreed to pay the $1.409 million as announced by the SEC on Friday.

The charges against Pierce were for promoting EMAX tokens on Twitter. The SEC claimed that Pierce did not disclose what he had been paid to promote the token and also went ahead to make false and misleading statements about the token.

It is reported that Pierce received $244,000 to promote EMAX tokens. He however posted a bank account with huge figures than his bank account actually had.

The law requires celebrities to disclose their payments when promoting securities. The SEC Chair Gary Gensler warned investors to be careful and do due diligence on investment opportunities including crypto assets endorsed by celebrities.