This case is a reminder that, when celebrities / influencers endorse investment opps, including crypto asset securities, it doesn’t mean those investment products are right for all investors.Kardashian included “#AD” at the bottom of the post in 2021, according to the SEC. Despite that, the SEC said investors weren’t made aware of her being paid for the ad.
The main difference between Kardashian’s settlement and earlier ones related to digital assets is the size of the penalty, said Coy Garrison, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson. “The higher penalty suggests that the SEC is taking a tougher stance against celebrities and believes that celebrities are on notice of their need to comply with the anti-touting provision of the securities laws with respect to crypto assets,” said Garrison, who used to work at the SEC.
Wall Street’s main regulator has long asserted that many virtual tokens are securities and under its jurisdiction. To determine whether something is a security, the SEC applies a legal test, which comes from a 1946 Supreme Court decision. Under that framework, an asset can be under SEC purview when it involves investors kicking in money with the intention of profiting from the efforts of the organization’s leadership.
The advertisement was also singled out by the UK’s financial regulator last year as part of a crackdown on crypto endorsements by social influencers. Charles Randell, then chair of the Financial Conduct Authority, said Kardashian’s Instagram post “may have been the financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history.”