Celebrities Who Promoted Crypto Projects
Would you be losing money if you’ve listened to their advice back then?
Not long ago we wrote an article about Celebrities who promoted NFT projects specifically. This time we are going to cover overall crypto projects (including NFTs) that they promoted and do quick analysis on their performance.
If you have not read the article about NFTs, then you should definitely check it out. Most of them were down roughly 90% from the initial mint. Will see how it worked for crypto projects overall.
1. Kim Kardashian. — We wrote a separate article on this the other day, you can read it here. But basically, she got fined $1.3 million for promoting EthereumMax without disclosing that she was getting paid $250k for that promotion. Rules from regulators prohibit celebrities from engaging in such activities without disclosing information about the compensation. Especially for Kim, who got over 331 million followers on Instagram. This was a story she posted on her Instagram.
Sure enough, if you check EthereumMax prices, it is down by a lot. It looks like one of those scam projects. Current daily volume is roughly $84k (it was $112 million at its peak).
Yes, Kim paid a fine for it but that does not really help in any way those who invested because of her post. This fine is obviously a joke compared to her $1.8 billion net worth.
2. Tom Brady. — He is one of the celebrities who has been involved in a lot of crypto projects. He was part of FTX commercial, bought a Bored Ape at $430k and he is also a co-founder of Autograph which is an NFT platform that brings lot of sports people and celebs together in the platform.
Obviously BAYC is down well over 50% from the time he initially bought it, on top of that with ETH prices going down, we can fairly argue that losses are way more than 50%. We are not really worried about him as his net worth is roughly $250 million. But think about those people who are big supporters of him and are willing to listen to anything he has to say, they have lost sh*t ton of money because of their idol.
On top of that, the Autograph platform he co-founded, recently raised $170 million from a16z and some other VCs. He is definitely in good hands, he is making money whether markets are down or not. Other celebrities who are involved in Autograph are: Simone Biles, Tiger Woods, Tony Hawk, Naomi Osaka, Usain Bolt, The Weekend, Slam, etc..
Do not trust anyone with your wealth. It is fine if you are a big fan of sports or a player like Tom Brady, but if that involves your money in some way, take a step back and reflect. If you believed him with your net worth, you would be losing 60% of it with the current market conditions.
3. Floyd Mayweather Jr. — He has been one of the biggest promoters of projects who were absolute scams if you check their price movements. We covered his activity in our previous newsletter on the same topic. Not he only promoted other projects, but he also created his own project which he completely abandoned it. If you invested in his NFT project, you would be down more than 98% now. Let that sink in..
Back in 2018, he agreed to settle with SEC for $600k, which was more like a slap on the wrist for him compared to his $450 million net worth. He got charged for promoting coin offerings without disclosing that he was being paid for running those promotions. From this $600k settlement, $300k was in disgorgement, $300k in penalty and around $15k in prejudgement interest. Here’s the press release from SEC for more information.
The rest of the other ones have promoted crypto in some way but not a particular project which would benefit them specifically against a promotion. Few of them were included in commercials, few of them bought NFTs. Let’s go through a few of them which you are familiar with most likely.
4. Matt Damon. — Mat got featured on Crypto.com ad back in October 2021. As per Financial Times, Mat got mid two-digit millions compensation from the ad. If we go back and check prices from a year ago, which is the time when the ad launches, BTC price was roughly $67k. Currently it is sitting at around $19k. So you can only imagine the losses if someone actually invested because of Matt Damon ad. Obviously, this is not something which was done intentionally, Matt just like every other celebrity did FOMO thinking that crypto is the next big thing. At the end of the day he still got compensated for it. His net worth is considered to be roughly $170 million.
5. Jimmy Fallon. — Although he did not promote any specific project, he bought a Bored Ape for 46.6ETH (with the $4810 Ethereum price back then, this comes to around $220k). Here’s his NFT.
If you were somehow influenced by Jimmy on jumping into BAYC or any other NFT, you can only imagine your losses, well over 50%. Jimmy is considered to have a net worth of roughly $60 million.
6. Paris Hilton. — Paris got named as the 7th most influential person in NFTs by Money. She reportedly purchased a BAYC which she talked about it on Jimmy Fallon’s show. She purchased it for 119ETH and it is down by a lot if you considered the time when she bought it. She also launched her own NFT project called Iconic Crypto Queen which she sold it in an auction for $1.11 million. Her net worth is considered to be roughly $300 million.vParis Hilton’s BAYC is the one below.
7. Stephen Curry. — He got featured on a FTX commercial. Although it has not been released how much he got paid for it, we can easily say it is around mid two-digit millions. He also did FOMO and bought a Bored Ape like almost every other celebrity at that time, for which he paid roughly $180k at that time. Obviously it is down by a lot since then. Here’s his BAYC NFT. His net worth is considered to be roughly $160 million.
Final thoughts
Obviously the list goes on and on. Lot of other celebrities got involved in the space in some capacity, some did FOMO because everyone was doing it and some intentionally shilled specific projects for their own benefits. The lesson here is to always DYOR (Do Your Own Research) before getting involved in any project, not just crypto related.
Always ask your question about the incentives one person might have when promoting something. If you own something then most likely you are biased towards it and obviously endorsements will be in favor of that project. Read multiple source, check to see what critics might have to say about it, especially those who are against it as they might have something valuable that holds them back against it.
🗞️ Read also
SEC Is Coming After Crypto (seriously, this time)
13 Reasons Why People Lose Money in Crypto Trading
Mastercard Launches Crypto Secure For Fraud Detection
What Is Scalp Trading And How Can I Make Money From It
What Is Sudoswap And What Makes It Different Compared To Other NFT Marketplaces
