NBA Corridor of Famer Paul Pierce, who received a championship with the Boston Celtics, agreed to settle with the Securities and Trade Fee for $1.4 million over allegations that he unlawfully touted crypto securities, the regulator introduced on Friday.

The motion towards Pierce includes his public statements about EthereumMax, or EMAX, the identical crypto safety product that the SEC charged influencer Kim Kardashian with unlawfully touting.

Pierce promoted EthereumMax tokens on Twitter whereas failing to reveal that he was paid for his promotion with EMAX tokens value over $244,000, the SEC alleged. Pierce didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing as a part of the settlement and pays a $1.1 million penalty and disgorge “roughly $240,000,” the SEC mentioned.

Pierce can also be barred from selling any crypto asset securities for 3 years, the SEC mentioned.

“This case is one more reminder to celebrities: The legislation requires you to speak in confidence to the general public from whom and the way a lot you might be getting paid to advertise funding in securities, and you may’t misinform buyers whenever you tout a safety,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler mentioned in a press release.

Pierce’s social media help for EthereumMax additionally concerned allegedly deceptive the general public about his EMAX holdings, in response to the SEC. Pierce allegedly shared deceptive screenshots of his EMAX holdings and earnings, the SEC mentioned, with out disclosing that his private holdings had been truly far decrease.

“@espn I do not want you,” Pierce wrote in a Could 2021 Tweet. “I bought @ethereum_max I made extra money with this crypto prior to now month then I did with y’all in a 12 months.”

The SEC mentioned Pierce’s gross compensation from ESPN was over $1 million in 2020.

Representatives for Pierce didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Kardashian settled with the SEC in October for $1.2 million over her alleged touting of EMAX, which included a now notorious line, “Are you guys into crypto????”

A federal class motion lawsuit naming Pierce, Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and different EthereumMax boosters was dismissed in December. A decide discovered that the plaintiffs’ allegations did not meet the “heightened pleading requirements” that fraud instances demand. The lawsuit was refiled the identical month.

The SEC has gotten extra aggressive with its enforcement motion within the crypto house. On Thursday, the regulator charged stablecoin issuer Terraform and CEO Do Kwon with fraud.

Earlier this week, the SEC proposed adjustments to federal custody regulation that might materially affect the best way crypto exchanges are capable of custody sure property. Days earlier, crypto trade Kraken settled with the SEC over its staking service. And in January, the SEC unveiled costs towards crypto lender Genesis and crypto trade Gemini over the alleged unregistered providing and sale of securities.

— CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.

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