Cryptocurrency, social media, and celebrity or influencer endorsements have all been top of mind recently, including for advertisers. A newly filed lawsuit is asking a federal court to consider the intersection of these areas, with potential implications for advertisers looking to expand into the cryptocurrency space. EthereumMax executives (“Executive Defendants”) and a few well-known celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Paul Pierce (“Celebrity Defendants”) were recently met with a class action complaint in California federal court filed on behalf of all purchasers of EthereumMax’s EMAX tokens between May and June 2021.  Plaintiff alleges that Defendants hatched a scheme to misleadingly promote and sell EMAX Tokens, cryptocurrency digital assets, through social media advertisements and other promotional activities, while failing to adequately disclose material connections between EthereumMax and the Celebrity Defendants endorsing EMAX. (Huegerich v. Gentile, No. 2:22-cv-00163 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 7, 2022).

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