Legal side to promoting bitcoin.

[Cryptomiles1]

snip

The situation become worst if you've send your Bitcoin to centralized exchange and your account have been verified.

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.

[Webetcoins]

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.

[goldkingcoiner]

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.

[sheenshane]

I think that the SEC is very correct in penalizing any influencers who promote ICOs or glorifying any risky investment opportunities.

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.

[Hispo]

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.   

[BenCodie]

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).

[Fiatless]

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)?

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.

[Fundamentals Of]

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.