Last updated February 18, 2023
The US securities regulatory body took its latest action against Paul Pierce over undisclosed crypto promotional activities.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a major financial regulatory body in the US crypto industry. According to the SEC agency, most crypto assets are similar to the security asset class, therefore all crypto companies and security-nature crypto token issuers must be registered under the securities law.
On February 17, 2023, SEC agency chairman Gary Gensler notified that the SEC charges former NBA star Paul Pierce because he failed to disclose the source of funds and amounts received to promote crypto security tokens.
We @SECGov NBA HOFer Paul Pierce accused of illegal brokerage and making misleading statements about a safety.
By law you must disclose by whom/how much you have been paid to promote investments in securities, and you cannot lie when you promote them.
What investors should know:
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) February 17, 2023
The US SEC noted that Paul promoted the EMAX token on social media and publicly provided numerous false and misleading information about that token.
Today we announced charges against former NBA player Paul Pierce for using EMAX tokens on social media to make false and misleading promotional statements about the same crypto asset without disclosing payments he received for promotion.
– US Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) February 17, 2023
Allegedly, this NBA star received $244,000 for promoting EMAX tokens but never disclosed it. He is now reportedly ready to settle the case with a total fine of $1.4 million and has also agreed not to promote any crypto tokens over the next three years.
SEC crypto crackdown
In the last 10 days period, it has been observed that SEC took very strict action against crypto companies.
On February 13, the SEC agency fined Kraken exchange with a $30 million fine over crypto staking services. According to the SEC agency, Kraken’s crypto staking service was against the Securities Act and also ordered the closure of staking services for US citizens.
On February 12, the SEC agency sent a Wells notice to Paxos, the BUSD issuer. The securities body noted that BUSD is a security under its Howey test. Now Binance crypto exchange is under the hurdle of finding a best stablecoin for Binance customers. Binance is reportedly trying to find some non-US dollar pegged stablecoins to use, and Binance is receiving support from a number of public and private companies.
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