Paul Pierce to pay huge settlement in alleged cryptocurrency scheme

Paul Pierce was one of several athletes/celebrities who were accused of improperly promoting cryptocurrency in an alleged scheme last year, with the former NBA star agreeing to pay a large settlement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that Pierce has agreed to pay more than $1.4 million to settle charges related to the way he promoted EthereumMax on social media. The SEC said Pierce promoted the cryptocurrency "without disclosing the payment he received for the promotion" and made "false and misleading promotional claims" about the product.

Pierce received more than $244,000 to promote EMAX tokens on his Twitter account. At one point he tweeted a misleading image showing a bank account with large numbers that did not reflect the actual numbers in his account.

Pierce paid a total of $1.409 million in "penalties, rebates and interest" to settle the charges, according to the SEC.

“This case is yet another reminder to celebrities: You are required by law to disclose to the public who and how much you are paid to promote investing in securities, and you cannot lie to investors when promoting a security,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement.

Pierce and other celebrities were sued civilly last year for his promotion of EthereumMax. The celebrities were accused of promoting the crypto and then selling their assets after the price rose, known as a pump-and-dump scheme.

That was It's not the first time Pierce has been sued.