(New York) Actress Lindsay Lohan, YouTuber Jake Paul and six other artists are being sued by the US Markets Watch on Wednesday for promoting cryptocurrencies without disclosing that they were paid to do so.
Updated yesterday at 5:06pm.
They are accused of distributing the Tronix and BitTorrent cryptocurrencies without registering with the relevant authorities, in violation of stock exchange laws, in a case more directly aimed at Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun.
Justin Sun is also facing criminal charges for attempting to manipulate Tronix’s brokerage by inflating trading in the asset on the secondary market: He had asked employees to transfer Tronix between two of his accounts on cryptocurrency platforms.
Finally, the SEC accuses Justin Sun, known for founding the Tron ecosystem, of trying to promote his assets on social media by paying celebrities to tweet messages in favor of Tronix and BitTorrent.
Without admitting or denying their guilt, Lindsay Lohan and Jake Paul agreed to pay $40,670 and $101,887 in refunds and fines, respectively.
Porn actress Michele Mason (known as Kendra Lust), rapper Lil Yachty (Miles Parks McCollum), singers Ne-Yo (Shaffer Smith) and Akon (Aliaune Thiam) have also agreed to donate money towards the settlement of the lawsuits.
Rapper Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way) and singer Austin Mahone, who are also being sued, have not agreed on a deal.
American authorities have tightened their oversight of cryptocurrencies in recent months, especially following the bankruptcy of the FTX platform, from which many clients have not been able to withdraw their investments.
They also communicate more about emblematic cases.
Last October, reality TV star Kim Kardashian agreed to pay $1.26 million to endorse a cryptocurrency on her Instagram account, without mentioning that she was paid.