Bitcoin Forum

You can get in trouble with the SEC as a forum member with celebrity status for promoting cryptocurrency on your social media, but not in trouble with them for promoting just bitcoins. There is a scary SEC rule- that but I think this rule applies to "securities" and since the SEC considers bitcoin a "commodity", I do not think it is applicable.  source (https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/06/28/secs-gensler-reiterates-bitcoin-alone-is-a-commodity-is-he-right/)

Jake Paul, Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo, Akon, Austin Mahone, Lindsay Lohan and Kendra Lust got into trouble for promoting Tronix (TRX) tokens a securities offered by Tron Foundation Limited. (News report (https://sports.yahoo.com/jake-paul-among-6-celebrities-to-settle-charges-with-sec-for-unlawful-crypto-promotion-011638698.html))

Paul Pierce from the NBA got into trouble for promoting EMAX tokens, a securities offered and sold by EthereumMax. EthereumMax does not have any relationship with Ethereum. (News report (https://nesn.com/2023/02/ex-celtic-paul-pierce-agrees-to-settlement-with-sec-over-crypto-promotion/))

Kim Kardarshian got into trouble for promoting Ethereum Max tokens (News report (https://thenationaldesk.com/news/from-the-desk/kim-kardashian-settles-with-sec-over-crypto-promotion-instagram-securities-and-exchange-commission-reality-tv-star-ethereummax-website-emax-tokens-congress))

Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled got into trouble for promoting ICO's. (News report (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/29/floyd-mayweather-dj-khaled-cryptocurrency-sec-fines))

Do you know any celebrity that has gotten in trouble for promoting bitcoins?

Nobody gives a damn about any forum celebrities as far as I am aware. The SEC goes after people like Kardashian because these people can affect hundreds of thousand of people with a tweet of theirs. The most famous forum celebrity or even the forum admins can't affect that many people and therefore the SEC won't give a shit about what we say here. Thousands of people shill shitcoins on every dark corner of the internet. Do you expect the SEC to go after all of them? Nope. It is not happening. Shilling crypto is not a crime.

I can't believe they've made it unlawful to talk about cryptocurrency (even shitcoins if easy profit prevails) if you don't disclose the amount of your money. What's the reasoning? Just because Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Dwayne, Messi, or whoever celebrity else, is financially bonded with a cryptocurrency, so what? You know regulators should someday consider the fact that pump 'n dump victims are also responsible for their inclusion in shit-tokens.

EthereumMax is a shitcoin. Why should celebrities have any reason to promote a shitcoin? I mean think about it. If you were a celebrity, would you accept an offer to promote some Chevrolet model that has a high tendency of breaking down in the middle of the highway, when there are so many better car brands to promote out there? (Not to mention pay better)?

Yep, It really is a mess up to see them chase every user on forums promoting altcoins. What sort of popularity would they consider a celebrity status?

If they are then probably the hiring of the 85000 IRS agents is meant to find those celebrity users. But like mindrust said, it's just too much work, I doubt this is happening. And what about the users that are outside USA?

That is it in a nutshell. If you push a stock or a lot of things you have to tell people if and if so, how much you are getting paid to do it.
If nobody is paying you it's a different thing, but if you are then there are rules you have to follow.

I don't know why people think it's such a big deal, it's been that way for a very long time.

-Dave

I think there's some sense to this. Most of the time they advertise shitcoins that wouldn't really go anywhere had it not been for the fact that they are advertised or sponsored by these influential entities. In a sense it looks like manipulation with extra steps so it is quite justified for SEC to go after these people.

On the other hand you are right, it's like the government is stripping people, and celebrities for that matter of the right to be able to express what they want to express sponsored or not. Like if the situation was changed and these people were advertising idk, Mcdonalds? Will the government go after them? No, not really?

It's true that forum celebrities or forum administrators may not have as significant an impact on the market as some well-known celebrities, however, that doesn't mean that the activities carried out within the forum are completely off the radar of the SEC.

 The SEC is tasked with protecting investors and ensuring the transparency of financial markets, including those related to cryptocurrencies.  If there is evidence of market manipulation or violations of financial securities laws, the SEC can step in and take legal action.

I think Bitcoin will become the SEC's number one issue very soon and they won't know how to fix it.

If I am not wrong Elon admitted Bitcoin will be the future of cryptocurrency as well as for Doge but he didn't get any legal issues however he never promoted it he just mentioned it so people get aware also he used the influence to manipulate the prices of multiple times.

Actually no one is going to pay for you to promote bitcoin and there is no need for it as well since most people atleast heard the word bitcoin after 2020.

There are a lot of celebrities that have been promoting bitcoin in that past, there was one video of it in youtube. And during the last bull run, there has been like "laser eye" promotion on Twitter with Brady and others as far as I can remember.

But to be honest, I don't think that Bitcoin needs promotion from this celebrities or other sport personalities. If the government think that it is bad, then so be it, we won't be affected by them, we all know that for a fact.

as far as I know the celebrities you mention are not promoting bitcoin but they are promoting shit coins, the SEC thinks their popularity will make their followers follow what they are doing and that as we know shit coins can make 2 alternatives that are feared if they end up bankrupt,
the rest, if it's true that artists promote btc, it's safe in my country

I believe SEC are after people who are got paid big by cryptocurrency projects especially when the project raises funds through crowdfunding.  If you are not paid or didn't get any personal benefit then I think you will be safe from SEC hunt.

I agree that the law has been like that for a long time, people who promoted and got paid for projects that do harm to investors are often get sued or fined by SEC.  There is nothing new except the tool they use to scam people like shitcoins.

This forum is free from sec and I don't think any reputable member from here can be affected by SEC because they remains anonymous and there is no way sec can make such alterations that will affect any member or reputable member if this forum. The sec can only effect that with those that promotes newly launched projects but doesn't applicable to bitcoin.

If you as an influencer or a celebrity with thousands of millions of followers then you are fit to be charged. But for a homies like us nah. No one will come after you even if you shout in every crypto forums, or subreddits promoting bitcoin lol.

I think your speculations are not right as you can see that there are a lot of people who promote shit coins and no one gives damn about because they can say that Why you Invest were were just talking because we like this project.
And also SEC won't do anything as there have been a lot of frauds like Solana Crash, FTX collapse, and so Terra Lunna scam and I don't know that how you didn't get anything from these biggest scams in crypto history.

This forum is centralized, you can visit the privacy page (https://bitcointalk.org/privacy.php) to know if you're not anonymous in this forum. Yeah you're not use your real name in your username, your email doesn't have any relation with your identity, you've use Tor to access this forum, but don't forge the administrator might store your old or first IP address. The situation become worst if you've send your Bitcoin to centralized exchange and your account have been verified.

I don't think that SEC will go that deep whenever someone who's unknown and anonymous in the forum will advertise a project that seem to be a fraud. The community is the one that will judge that person and the trust feedback would mean a lot but then, the funds that have been swindled are unlikely to be returned.

Some were mentioned already on this article: The Disastrous Record of Celebrity Crypto Endorsements (https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-crypto-celebrity-endorsements/?leadSource=uverify%20wall)

CFTC considered Bitcoin as the only cryptocurrency as commodity. Previously they considered Ethereum as commodity too but it seems they changed their stance about Ethereum lately.

CFTC's Bitcoin basics (https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/oceo_bitcoinbasics0218.pdf) in 2018.

You don't commit a crime by promoting Bitcoin but in some countries, you can do illegal things by exchanging Bitcoin to other stuffs as financial trades.

Let's see Cryptocurrency regulations around the world (https://complyadvantage.com/insights/cryptocurrency-regulations-around-world/)

As long as Bitcoin is not affected then I have nothing to worry about.
And I also think it's a good thing because of those celebrity, promoting shitcoins that they know nothing about and then making millions of people who follow them to be scammed.


Are you really sure about this forum being secure from SEC? And they won't be able to get their hands on the details of users here?
You never really can tell what is going on behind the stage and what their next plan is... But one mustn't underestimate what they're capable of doing all the name of decentralization.

It's a bit strange that labeling such things as sponsored isn't going to be enough, but they think attaching certain numbers to these things is supposed to magically provide indirect protection to all of the investors ^{[they just want a piece of the pie (SMH)]}!

This could be true though just i did said, this forum doesn't have anything to do with SEC only those who are openly promote project just op said. Tracking your details to know your identity is when one have involved him self fraud at this point such user address may be reported to exchange where those was previously sent for traded by then the could calls for review to detect the users country and residency.

They probably know that Bitcoin has no central authority or a team behind it that holds a significant amount of Bitcoins which they can sell off any time and let the project rug pull and they get away with the money while leaving other investors in extreme grief for losing their capitals. So, they don't really need to chase down those who talk about or promote Bitcoin because they know that they are not being paid for doing that.

About altcoins, it is obvious that any celebrity or someone with a few thousand followers will only promote them if either they are being paid for it or they are a part of the project themselves. So if they regulate this thing and ask them to mention how much they are paid, this probably will save a lot of newbies from blindly following their favorite celebrities when it comes to cryptocurrencies.

I think that the SEC is very correct in penalizing any influencers who promote ICOs or glorifying any risky investment opportunities. Lets remember why they do this in the first place: Not because they themselves believe in that investment but rather because they were paid to promote a certain investment. Nobody is paying to promote Bitcoin because Bitcoin is owned by nobody. There would be no monetary profit for them.

From this we can assume the only people who promote Bitcoin do so only because they truly believe in Bitcoin as an investment.

Furthermore the SEC has declared Bitcoin a commodity, not a security. So they cannot really have any say in the matter of promotion anyway.

This was what I thought, it's a rare case that someone celebrity has been penalized by SEC because they promote Bitcoin, it's always those people who promote ICOs who promote investments solely for monetary gain and are not necessarily endorsing them based on their own beliefs.

AFAIK, Steven Seagal was charged by SEC in 2020 because of promoting a cryptocurrency called "Bitcoiin2Gen" without disclosing that he was paid for his endorsement.  Also, in 2017, hotel heiress Paris Hilton was paid to promote an ICO called "LydianCoin" on social media without disclosing her financial interest.  More and more because they promote ICO but it's a rare case promoting Bitcoin.

I barely follow people on internet, so I do not anyone who has gotten in trouble because promoting Bitcoin whatsoever.
The few videos on Youtube I have seen from people who are Bitcoiners are still up and their creators continue to make content, so I assume they are fine.

If you asked me, promoting Bitcoin is something which can be very situational, depending on where one lives and the local laws on these kind of assets. I personally would not dare to promote Bitcoin or any other altcoin because the security implications it could bring to myself and those who live around me.

I'll let that task to the people who can afford a good security and live in safe places.   :P

Bitcoin is not a pump and dump nor is it a scam. EthereumMax? Seriously? Kim K and whoever else promoted that crap should be thrown in jail. Arguably, the same goes for Tron...though that somehow has remained existent in the ecosystem. You have to give Sun some credit for keeping his shitcoin existent for so long I suppose.

Unless you are giving out guarantees, or unless Bitcoin turns out to be some sort of exit/scam (I think we're all past this even being a question for some years now) then there's no reason why you would get in trouble for promoting Bitcoin. Just like you wouldn't get in trouble for advising people to use cash. Or to buy a basket of different fiat currencies. Bitcoin is a currency just like every other currency (except with much more sound economics and technical capability).

I have not seen any celebrity that was paid for promoting or endorsing bitcoin. Most of them that promote just bitcoin are either investors or believers of the coin and they do it voluntarily. I am fully in support of the SEC's decision to make these celebrities disclose how much they are paid to promote these inferior coins because it will help in reducing their shady deal. It is also possible that these celebrities partner with the developer of these shitcoins to defraud the people. And their action has always brought a bad name to the industry.  Most of them don't have confidence in the coin or exchanges they are promoting but they are driven by personal gains without considering the consequences it will have on their blind followers.

I don't think this is a scary rule. What makes this SEC rule particularly scary? I think this is even a fair rule. It simply wants these influencers to be transparent about their financial promotions. These are popular personalities who have very large followers. They can sway people. They can make them decide immediately without thinking through it. And it is simply because they are famous.

So the SEC doesn't want the people to be blind-sided. They want the people to be informed. They want to remind them that these celebrities are not promoting something because they use or believe in it. They are only promoting it because they are paid to do it.