A class action lawsuit that alleges numerous celebrities fraudulently promoted an Ethereum (ETH)-based decentralized finance (DeFi) altcoin to investors is being thrown out.
According to new court documents, a judge has tossed the lawsuit saying that the plaintiffs’ allegations are insufficient to state a claim for relief.
Celebrities named in the lawsuit include reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian and undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. The lawsuit claims Kardashian and Mayweather Jr. persuaded investors to purchase EthereumMax (EMAX), a scalable DeFi platform built on ETH, using their fame.
The defendants claim they only bought EMAX, a highly volatile digital asset, because of the celebrities’ endorsements and would not have invested in it if it weren’t for the plaintiffs’ alleged misrepresentations and omissions.
The token is moving for $0.0000000017 at time of writing, according to CoinGecko.
The uncovered documents reveal the defendants are accusing Mayweather Jr. of encouraging boxing fans in May to purchase tickets to a pay-per-view boxing match featuring him and Logan Paul using EMAX tokens, going as far as to offer them incentives, such as sports memorabilia.
The lawsuit also alleges that he said “I believe there’s gonna be another cryptocurrency just as large as Bitcoin someday” at a Bitcoin conference in Miami while wearing an EMAX t-shirt.
The plaintiffs further allege that Kardashian promoted EMAX via her social media accounts in May and June. Others named in the lawsuit include former NBA superstar Paul Pierce as well as Giovanni Perone and Steven Gentile, two executives of EthereumMax.
However, the judge in the case notes that it is possible for the defendants to amend their complaint and revive the lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs may file an amended complaint, if any, by no later than December 22, 2022. Defendants must respond to any amended complaint by no later than January 13, 2023.”
Don't Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inboxFeatured Image: Shutterstock/jovan vitanovski/Sensvector