DJ Khaled is no stranger to leveraging his social media reach by promoting things on Instagram. In just the past few days, for example, he’s posted about energy drinks, scarves, Ciroc, and other products. It turns out that there’s more to posting an endorsement on Instagram than just uploading a photo, because DJ Khaled got in some trouble with the SEC over a promotion for a cryptocurrency from last year.
Yesterday, Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. were charged with fraud by Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC) for promoting investments in initial coin offerings — ICO, like an initial public offering, or IPO, on the stock market — for the Centra coin without revealing that he had been paid. Both have reached a settlement with the SEC: $152,725 for Khaled, and $614,775 for Mayweather. Both also agreed to not promote any securities for two and three years, respectively.
On September 24, 2017, Khaled posted a photo on Instagram and Twitter of him holding a Centra Card and wrote, “I just received my titanium centra debit card. The Centra Card & Centra Wallet app is the ultimate winner in Cryptocurrency debit cards powered by CTR tokens! Use your bitcoins, ethereum, and more cryptocurrencies in real time across the globe. This is a Game changer here. Get your CTR tokens now!”
