Crypto News

Breaking: US SEC Charges NBA Star Paul Pierce With Crypto Violation

Published by

Paul Pierce SEC Settlement: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday announced charges against former NBA player Paul Pierce for crypto violations. He was charged for endorsing EthereumMax (EMAX) tokens on social media without making relevant disclosures. The SEC said the former player made false and misleading promotional statements about EMAX. Accordingly, Pierce settled the charges with $1.409 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest.

Also Read: Is The Binance FUD Real? On-Chain Data Reveals Massive TUSD Inflow, Bitcoin Outflow

Paul Pierce EMAX Promotion

The primary charge is that Paul Pierce promoted the EMAX tokens on Twitter after receiving $244,000 worth of EMAX tokens. He did not make it public that he received the tokens in exchange for promoting it, said the SEC’s statement. Terming the charges as reminder to celebrities, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said influencers need to disclose details of rewards they are receiving while promoting crypto asset ‘securities’.

“The law requires you to disclose to the public from whom and how much you are getting paid to promote investment in securities, and you can’t lie to investors when you tout a security.”

The latest SEC action on crypto related activities comes just a week after charged crypto exchange Kraken with failing to register its crypto staking service. Kraken entered into an SEC settlement agreement which involved discontinuing of the staking service and payment of $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties.

Also Read: Macro Headwinds To Eat Up Bitcoin (BTC) Price Gains Through Weekend?

Share
Anvesh Reddy

Anvesh reports major crypto updates around U.S. regulation and market moving trends. Published over 1400 articles so far on crypto and blockchain. A proud dropout of University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Can be reached at anvesh@coingape.com or x.com/BitcoinReddy or linkedin.com/in/anveshreddybtc/

Published by

Recent Posts

  • Crypto News

Breaking: CLARITY Act Advances as Senate Banking Committee Approves Crypto Bill With Bipartisan Support

The CLARITY Act has advanced after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted in favor of…

May 14, 2026
  • Bitcoin News

Breaking: Bitcoin Treasury Firm Strive Reveals Daily Dividends For SATA In Q1 Earnings

Strive, Inc. said it will start paying the daily dividends on its Variable Rate Series…

May 14, 2026
  • Crypto News

CME Group Rolls Out Nasdaq Crypto Futures Index, BTC, ETH, XRP, & Others to Rally?

The world's leading derivatives exchange, CME Group, announced plans to roll out the Nasdaq CME…

May 14, 2026
  • Crypto News

$800B Interactive Brokers Launches Prediction Markets Platform With Kalshi, CME Integration

Interactive Brokers, with over $800 billion in assets under management, has announced the launch of…

May 14, 2026
  • Crypto News

Coinbase Becomes Hyperliquid’s Official USDC Treasury Deployer, Increases HYPE Position

Crypto exchange Coinbase has expanded its support for Hyperliquid, becoming the perp DEX's official USDC…

May 14, 2026
  • Crypto News

BREAKING: Marex Group Becomes 3rd Largest XRP ETF Holder, Expands Strategy (MSTR) Stake

Marex Group, a Nasdaq-listed diversified financial services firm, has revealed a massive XRP exposure, becoming…

May 14, 2026