On Thursday the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it is charging Steven Seagal after he allegedly neglected to disclose that he received payments to promote a cryptocurrency.
Seagal is accused of failing to reveal that he was being paid to tout the new coin on his social media accounts. He was reportedly promised $250,000 in cash, plus an additional $750,000 in Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G) tokens to put up the post, which was allegedly a press release that said "Zen Master Steven Seagal Has Become the Brand Ambassador of Bitcoiin2Gen." In that press release he is alleged to have given Bitcoiin2Gen a wholehearted endorsement.
In an effort to give potential investors a heads-up before they potentially invest, federal securities laws on the subject of cryptocurrency state that "any celebrity or other individual who promotes a virtual token or coin that is a security must disclose the nature, scope, and amount of compensation received in exchange for the promotion."
Similar charges were brought against both DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather in November 2018.
Seagal has neither confirmed nor denied the SEC's findings. He has reportedly agreed to pay a sum of $314,000 in addition to agreeing that he won't promote securities for three years.
As you can see, sympathy was in short supply.
