Plus — Nigerians are being told they can only withdraw $45 a day from cash machines … and it has something to do with its struggling central bank's digital currency.
The judge threw out the lawsuit, accusing Kardashian of helping pump and dump Ethereum Max.
A federal judge ruled that plaintiffs suing EMAX’s celebrity promoters, who lost 99.8% of their value, did not prove they saw and were influenced by the promotions.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against reality TV star Kim Kardashian and several other celebrities for promoting cryptocurrency.
US District Judge Michael Fitzgerald prosecuted the 2021 promotion of the EthereumMax token, which crashed after a series of star-studded validations. He ruled that it was not clear that the plaintiffs had actually seen these developments.
The judge added that the plaintiffs also failed to show that the endorsers intended to mislead other investors rather than simply acting in their own best interests.
The lawsuit claimed that — along with their payment endorsements — Kardashian, boxer Floyd Mayweather and former NBA star Paul Pierce, among others, engaged in a pump-and-dump scheme. EMAX token is down 99.82% from its all-time high seen in May 2021.
Interestingly, the judge also said that California’s consumer protection law does not apply to cryptocurrencies. Fitzgerald said the law only applies to tangible goods and services, not “intangibles” like cryptocurrencies.
The decision comes two months after Kardashian agreed to a $1.26 million fine to settle a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission that accused her of failing to properly disclose that He was paid to endorse EthereumMax.
Despite the name, EthereumMax is not affiliated with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency.
While Kardashian’s Instagram post – which began with “Are you guys into crypto?” — added “#ad” as the seventh of seven hashtags, securities law requires promoters to disclose not only that they were paid, but how much.
The plaintiffs’ attorney said they plan to refile the lawsuit, adding that “a body of additional facts demonstrates the defendants’ wrongdoing and liability.”
This isn’t the only recent instance of celebrities being sued by disgruntled crypto investors.
A class-action lawsuit filed by FTX Investors in the exchange’s bankruptcy likely ended recently targeting celebrities who starred in its commercials, beginning with NFL great Tom Brady and his ex-wife Giselle Bündchen, NBA stars Steph Curry and Shaquille O’Neal, were from tennis. star Naomi Osaka, and even Larry David — who starred as a crypto-skeptic in the FTX Super Bowl ad — have invented wheel-like inventions in the past.
In addition, the Texas State Securities Board recently announced an investigation into Brady, Curry and others over the endorsement of FTXUS.
Fed Investigating Whether SBF Trade Caused Terra/LUNA Stablecoin Crash: NY Times
The Justice Department is said to be investigating whether Alameda Research initiated trades designed to drive down the price of LUNA, causing the market to crash accidentally.
Almost from the beginning it has been assumed that Sam Bankman Freud’s crypto exchange and trading empire collapsed because of the losses caused by the explosion of the Terra/LUNA stablecoin.
The New York Times reported on December 7 that federal prosecutors are now investigating whether he also carried out the blast.
FTX went bankrupt because it allegedly loaned $10 billion of customer money — possibly illegally — to sister trading firm Alameda Research after suffering heavy losses in the crypto winter.
The end of Terra/LUNA was complicated, but the underlying TerraUSD (UST) was an algorithmic stablecoin – meaning that instead of its dollar peg being backed by a dollar reserve like the USDC, it had an arbitrage system controlled by a smart contract. Dependent on the running algorithm. Linked to another cryptocurrency called LUNA. This encouraged traders to buy and sell in a way that pegged the UST to the dollar.
This did enough to make UST the third largest stablecoin by market cap. Until it happened.
This past May, the Times said, market makers saw a “flood” of UST sell orders overwhelm the system, with the number of buy orders so high that the stablecoin’s price was forced down. was – which had the effect of raising the price. Even under LUNA, thanks to the way her incentives work.
It’s unclear what exactly caused the collapse of the Terra/LUNA ecosystem in the $48 billion panic-driven run that saw LUNA’s price drop from $86 on May 5 to under a penny on May 12.
But, citing someone with knowledge of the market activity, the Times said:
“Most of the sell orders for TerraUSD appeared to be coming from one place: Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading firm, which also bet big on the falling price of Luna, according to a person familiar with the market. was aware of the activity. The trade went as expected, a price drop in Luna could have yielded a hefty profit. Instead, the bottom fell out of the entire TerraUSD-Luna ecosystem.”
In November, Alameda Research CEO Carolyn Ellison reportedly told staff that the market chaos caused by the Terra/LUNA collapse led to calls for the firm’s loans.
But with the use of those funds, he allegedly said Alameda turned to FTX — borrowing customer funds that FTX allegedly had no legal right to lend.
If you think the crypto industry wants the head of Bankman Freud before…
The Senate Banking Chair told SBF: Be present next Wednesday, or we will serve you.
Unlike his House counterpart, Senator Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, had no concern about threatening the FTX founder, nor was he interested in appeasing him.
Sen. Sherrod Brown saw no reason to try the carrot on FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried before turning to the stick.
The Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee went through the formalities of inviting Bankman-Fried to testify at a Dec. 14 hearing titled “The Crypto Crash: The FTX Bubble Burst and Why Consumers Hurt.”
But unlike outgoing House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, the Ohio Democrat’s Dec. 7 letter did not attempt to flatter Bankman-Fried by praising his “integrity” in previous interviews. Community.
In the next breath, Sen. Brown’s “invitation letter” said he had to “respond” to the “blatant misappropriation of client funds” and then accused him of “misappropriating” those funds and ” Planned to hide.”
Bankman-Fried allegedly allowed the now-bankrupt FTX exchange to bail out his trading firm Alameda Research by secretly loaning $10 billion belonging to more than 10 million FTX customers — who were reportedly It was that they would not have funds. borrowed.
do it now
Sen. Brown gave Bankman Fried until 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 8 to schedule testimony. He added:
“If you choose not to appear, I, along with Ranking [Republican] Member Pete Toomey, are prepared to file a subpoena to compel your testimony.”
The letter was sent to Bankman-Fried by her newly hired attorney, Mark Cohen, a former federal prosecutor who defends clients in both civil and criminal cases.
Whether Cohen — who recently defended Ghislaine Maxwell, a sex trafficker convicted of procuring underage girls for the late Jeffrey Epstein — would advise Bankman Freud to testify is unclear, but then again. , what’s up with the one-time golden-haired golden boy of crypto. A history of telling your lawyers to “go it alone.”
Nigerians can only withdraw $45 a day from ATMs as the country tries to promote CBDC flagging.
More than a year after its launch, Africa’s largest country has not managed to convince even 1% of its citizens to adopt its central bank’s digital currency, the eNaira.
Nigerians can now withdraw just $45 a day from ATMs – as authorities seek to boost adoption of its flagship central bank digital currency.
The new policy, which has a weekly withdrawal limit of $225, comes five months after Nigeria’s central bank governor criticized local financial institutions for failing to support the eNaira.
This CBDC was introduced in October 2021 to the country of 211 million, but less than 1% of its citizens have yet to adopt it.
A new directive mandates banks to implement withdrawal limits, encouraging citizens and corporations to “use alternative channels… for their banking transactions” — including internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD Quick Codes and eNaira.
Corporations are limited to withdrawing about five times as much as individuals, and banks are being threatened with “severe restrictions” to “aid and encourage” the policy.
eNaira has had a rocky start as banks are less apathetic to the rivalry – fearing that the CBDC will cut into their mobile banking fee income, make it easier for people to adopt electronic payments without opening bank accounts, and their customers. will further disperse banks. US financial institutions have expressed similar concerns over the prospect of a digital dollar.
CBN reported that as of August, only 840,000 people had used eNaira and only 240,000 were active users. He announced a target of eight million.
On eNaira’s one-year anniversary in late October, Bloomberg reported that fewer than one million Nigerians were using eNaira. The Governor of the Central Bank said at the time:
“Like the Naira, the eNaira is expected to be available to all Nigerians and will provide more possibilities to bring the unbanked into the digital economy.”
Adoption of digital payments, crypto.
Still, other digital payment methods have been successful. Earlier this year, telecom MTN Nigeria reported that 4.2 million digital wallets were opened in two months, after launching a mobile payments solution.
Another problem the eNaira faces is that it is a version of Nigeria’s official currency, the naira, which has seen inflation of more than 21% this year amid soaring food prices.
Adoption of cryptocurrencies is on the rise with blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis’ 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index ranking it the largest adopter of cryptocurrencies in Africa and number 11 worldwide.
This article contains links to third party websites or other content ("Third Party Sites") for informational purposes only. THIRD PARTY SITES ARE NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF CRYPTOGPT.COM, AND CRYPTOGPT.COM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY SITE, INCLUDING ANY LINK TO, OR ANY CHANGES OR UPDATES TO, ANY THIRD PARTY SITE. . On a third-party site. CRYPTOGPT.COM is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation of any association with CRYPTOGPT.COM or its operators. . This article is meant to be used and should be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any material decisions regarding the products or services described. This article is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, financial advice. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CRYPTOGPT.COM. CRYPTOGPT.COM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUCCESS OR CORRECTNESS OF ANY PROJECT, OUR INTENT IS TO SERVE AS AN Unbiased INFORMATION SOURCE FOR END USERS.