Celebrities, including reality TV star Kim Kardashian West and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, are touting cryptocurrency products, leading to worries that such endorsements could harm vulnerable investors.
Kardashian West posted an Instagram story of a paid advertisement in June for EthereumMax, a lesser-known digital token, according to the U.K.’s financial watchdog.
The post had substantial reach. According to a study by Morning Consult, a data intelligence company that surveyed 2,200 U.S. adults in September, 1 in 5 respondents had heard about Kardashian West’s ad. “A striking 19 percent of respondents who said they heard about the post invested in Ethereum Max as a result,” with an error margin of 2 percent, Morning Consult said.
Celebrity endorsers of crypto also include superstar NFL quarterback Tom Brady and his wife, businesswoman Gisele Bündchen, who appeared in ads in September for crypto exchange FTX.