Boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr. and reality TV star Kim Kardashian have landed in the middle of a lawsuit that alleges they were falsely promoting EMAX, a cryptocurrency sold by EthereumMax. 

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California’s Los Angeles on January 7, says that the celebrities wanted to spike the price of the cryptocurrency “at the expense of their followers and investors.”

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The lawsuit said that the company’s executives were collaborating with multiple celebrities “made false or misleading statements about EthereumMax through social media advertisements and other promotional activities”, according to reports from Reuters.

In an Instagram post, Kardashian allegedly promoted the cryptocurrency in June 2021. However, the reality television star wrote “this is not financial advice”, giving a disclaimer. At the time, she had about 250 million followers. 

EthereumMax was featured on Mayweather’s boxing trunks worn during a bout with YouTube sensation Logan Paul in June 2021. Media reports suggest that more than 1 million people witnessed the game.

EthereumMax responded to the lawsuit. The statement read, “The deceptive narrative associated with the recent allegations is riddled with misinformation about the EthereumMax project. We dispute the allegations and look forward to the truth coming out.”

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Paul Pierce, the former Boston Celtics who was fired by ESPN this year, has also been known to promote the token. In a tweet on May 25, he wrote, “@espn I don’t need you. I got @ethereum_max I made more money with this crypto in the past month than I did with y’all in a year. TRUTH shall set u Free.”

What is EthereumMax?

The token, which was launched in May 2021, aims to be a “culture token” that will “bridge the gap between the emergence of community tokens and the well-known foundational coins of crypto.”