SEC Fined Actor Steven Seagal for Promoting ICO

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined actor Steven Seagal for not reporting payments received for promoting the Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G) ICO in early 2018.

The SEC’s press release said that Segal did not disclose that he was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 in B2G tokens in exchange for promoting the project. The promotion included posts on his public social media accounts encouraging the public not to “miss out” on Bitcoiin2Gen’s ICO and a press release titled “Zen Master Steven Seagal Has Become the Brand Ambassador of Bitcoiin2Gen.”

The SEC said that, in accordance with the provisions of the securities law, any celebrity advertising a virtual token or coin as security must disclose the nature and amount of the promotion fee.

“These investors were entitled to know about payments Seagal received or was promised to endorse this investment so they could decide whether he may be biased,” said Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit. “Celebrities are not allowed to use their social media influence to tout securities without appropriately disclosing their compensation.”

Without admitting or denying the findings of the SEC, Seagal agreed to pay the $157,000 that he actually received and a fine of additional $157,000 plus prejudgment interest. Also, Segal agreed not to promote any securities, digital or other assets for three years.

SEC investigation into B2G ICO is still ongoing. According to CoinMarketCap, B2G is worthless — currently trading at $0.000183 with a daily trading volume of $56.

Author: Marko Vidrih

Featured image credit: Wikipedia