Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather set to beat EthereumMax investor lawsuit: report

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Socialite Kim Kardashian looks set to beat a lawsuit in which she was accused of scamming investors through the ill-fated EthereumMax (EMAX) digital asset project. 

Kim was sued by hundreds of investors in a class-action lawsuit alongside boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and former Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce. As CoinGeek reported in January, the investors filed the lawsuit in California, accusing the three of conspiring with the project founders to pump EMAX and then dump on investors.

Kim, in particular, was sued in connection with her Instagram posts in which she touted EthereumMax to her followers. The SEC would later go after the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star after she allegedly promoted EMAX without revealing she had received compensation for her efforts. In October, she settled the charges with the agency for $1.26 million.

However, according to Bloomberg, Kim, Mayweather, and Pierce will go scot-free in their legal battle with the EMAX investors. 

The outlet reports that U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald is set to rule in their favor, dismissing the accusations made by the plaintiffs. In a written order, the Los Angeles judge accused the plaintiffs’ lawyers of taking up the SEC role but fell short of accusing the three celebrities of securities laws violations “for obvious reasons.”

“It seems here that there is just a lot that is wrong with this case,” Judge Fitzgerald stated as he pledged to issue his written order later.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer John Jasnoch argued in court that the three celebrities were responsible for losing millions of dollars as they gave credibility to the project.

“If plaintiffs had known the true facts related to the promoters’ financial interest in the tokens, and that they were being paid to shill these tokens, they wouldn’t have paid as much for the tokens as they did,” the lawyers argued, but it didn’t change the judge’s stand.

While this was the first time Kim was sued for digital asset-related charges, Mayweather is a repeat offender. In 2021, he was involved in Centra Tech, a digital currency scam that managed to raise $32 million by lying to investors about its technology and partnerships. He and music producer DJ Khaled managed to avoid any repercussions in connection with their roles. Centra Tech founder Sohrab Sharma wasn’t as lucky and was sentenced to eight years behind bars last year.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups— from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple, 
Ethereum, FTX and Tether—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.