There's a new class action lawsuit that names several big name celebrities and
accuses them of engaging in a cryptocurrency pump and dump scheme.
This is where they attempt to manipulate the value of various cryptocurrencies and
then as soon as they manipulate it to a high value they cash out before the dip.
Now, this again is based on allegations in this lawsuit.
So we don't know for sure if the celebrities will be found guilty of
engaging in this kind of behavior, but I'll give you the details and
you can judge for yourselves.
So the claimants are accusing the defendant of perpetrating a pump and
dump scheme in which investors sell off their shares to make a lot of money
after orchestrating a rise in its value.
The lawsuit states that the coin rose 632% in value after Mayweather,
Floyd Mayweather and Paul Pierce promoted it.
The boxing star wore shorts with the EthereumMax URL during his
exhibition match with Logan Paul, while Pierce tweeted about it, and guess what?
This is not the first time that Mayweather has found himself in hot water over
cryptocurrency related matters.
Mayweather was charged by the Securities and
Exchange Commission in 2018 for failing to disclose that he was paid
$100,000 to promote Centra Tech's 2017 initial coin offering.
Two of Centra Tech's founders were arrested for securities fraud and
wire fraud with the SEC accusing them of touting nonexistent
relationships between Centra and well-known financial institutions
in an effort to entice people to invest in the ICO.
And we're not done in terms of the celebrities involved in this latest
lawsuit Kim Kardashian is also involved.
She apparently had posted about EthereumMax on Instagram stories telling
followers that she heard about it from her friends and linking to its website.
According to Morning Consult, a whopping 19% of the survey respondents
who said they heard about Kardashian's post invested in EthereumMax as a result.
And so this is look, we don't know if it's, I'm gonna cover my legal basis here.
I would like to speculate that it appears to be a pump and
dump scheme, it has not been proven yet.
However, with that said, I just want you guys to be careful.
Okay, listen, let's just be clear about one thing in America,
especially there are no shortcuts for normal people like us, okay,
there's no overnight, wow, all of a sudden I'm a millionaire.
And if miraculously you do find yourself to be a millionaire after investing
in cryptocurrency, cash out, don't be stupid, just don't be stupid.
Like it's just so obvious that it's a scam to me like I get it,
I know the crypto bros get really mad when I say this.
But come on, just be careful, that's all I'm saying, Walls what do you think?
>> Yeah, I would just generally tell people like if you do wanna invest and
I'm not look I don't, I'm not paid by Bitcoin and nothing, but
like Bitcoin like actually has a utility, right?
It actually performs a function, a lot of this stuff
like Dogecoin where they named this cryptocurrency after a dog.
[LAUGH] My God, this is so obviously not legitimate, right?
And again, like people used to say that the reason why Bitcoin had
a utility is that you could give money to people,
exchange money without leaving a trace, right?
Like when you do a bank transaction, or why, or whatever,
there's a record kept of you sending money somewhere, and
somebody receiving it somewhere else with Bitcoin and eliminated that.
However, I still haven't been able to get this confirmed or
debunked, like allegedly the FBI has a backdoor to Bitcoin now.
So you can't even do that anymore, so it doesn't even serve that utility.
Look, the general rule of thumb should be this,
Kim Kardashian will not get you rich.
Like just, know that, just yes, she's not gonna put money in your pocket,
that will never be the case.
And I don't wanna be cruel and be like, these people got what they deserved.
But I mean, >> Let me tell you what they got,
let me tell you what they have.
>> Website of Floyd, Mayweather's trunks, I mean, Jeez Louise.
>> The lawsuit states that the day after Kardashians post,
the token's value did it shoot up?
No, of course it didn't shoot up, the value plummeted 98% further,
the coins creators allegedly sold off their shares before
the price drop as shown by their wallet's activities.
I don't know, I think this is not a declarative statement,
it is my thought that this was in fact a pump and dump scheme.
That is my opinion, just based on the facts that we have available, just saying.
>> Yeah, and I'll give these guys this,
like the investment it takes to pay a Kim Kardashian.
She like, she makes a lot of money to promote stuff on her Instagram like per
post or whatever, and Paul Pierce to away lesser extent and for Mayweather.
But they invested in that knowing like, yeah, this is about to go up and
we're gonna be able to make a lot of money off of this.
>> So yeah, someone wrote in, Jonathan wrote in our super chat section and says,
it's definitely important to do your own research in crypto.
This is an emerging market and a complete shift in the dynamic of privacy,
finance, gaming, and equality as we know it.
Please don't use the equality argument,
okay, like I love you Jonathan, I really do and thank you for writing it.
I really appreciate your perspective, but
I just want you to think a little more critically and not, because look,
I remember when Silicon Valley was really in its heyday.
And everyone was buying the argument that their behavior was democratizing
everything, and we saw how that turned out.
If you look at the individuals who benefit from cryptocurrency,
it is not, there's no equality here, okay?
There's actually more inequality in cryptocurrency than
there is in the entirety of the US economy.
Like just let that sink in for a second, so I just, I don't
>> Work in case's already in there,
like this idea that like it's just democratic.
The little guys are gonna be able to get off like, they're already and
we know what happens whenever they show up somewhere, they take it over.
>> Yep, that's exactly right, but Jonathan does give some advice, he says,
don't get scammed, stick to blue chips.
EthereumMax could have, could anyone have asked and that got deleted.
Okay, so thank you for your comment, really appreciate it.
But yeah, I mean look, just be careful and
especially when you see celebrities promoting something like that,
ask yourselves, why are they really looking out for me?
Are these multimillionaires really looking out for me?
Just be a little more suspicious and don't be naive, that's all I'm saying.
And one final thing I'll say was, I can't even get myself to do cameos right?
Like it's easy money, it's super easy money, you just like do a greeting for
people on video, like happy birthday Joe, I hope you enjoy your day.
Like 200 bucks, I can't,
I don't have the shamelessness necessary to sell myself like that.
But these celebrities who, by the way, I'm not anywhere near rich guys,
like I live in a condo, like in the San Fernando Valley.
Like I'm good, I'm comfortable, like a little two bedroom condo, I'm happy.
But like, what I'm trying to say here is like,
most people would want more than what I have, I can't even do the cameos.
The fact that Kim Kardashian of all people and Floyd Mayweather evolved,
what are you guys doing?
Like, you really do have to have this characteristic of shamelessness to be
stupid, rich in this country.
Really, it's amazing, anyway, and again, no, hate for anyone who does cameos.
I think Ben Mankiewicz might be on there, [LAUGH] But again, great, that's awesome.
>> I wanna, and I wonder if anybody is close enough to Jimmy Dore or
Ben Shapiro in their life.
Be smart enough to get them Antiochus Perry in cameo for
their birthday, wouldn't that be amazing?
>> [LAUGH] My God, all right, I'm gonna leave it there.