Jake Paul among 8 celebrities charged for ‘illegal touting’ of crypto company

According to a press release from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Jake Paul was among several celebrities charged for “illegally touting” a crypto company.

The celebrities were charged alongside Justin Sun and three of his companies Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent) “for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT).” The release also says he’s being charged with “fraudulently manipulating the secondary market for TRX through extensive wash trading, which involves the simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchase and sale of a security to make it appear actively traded without an actual change in beneficial ownership, and for orchestrating a scheme to pay celebrities to tout TRX and BTT without disclosing their compensation.”

The other celebrities charged included actress Lindsay Lohan, porn star Kendra Lust and musicians Ne-Yo and Soulja Boy, among others.

Paul “agreed to pay a total of more than $400,000 in disgorgement, interest, and penalties to settle the charges, without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings” the press release indicated.

Paul is coming off the first loss of his professional boxing career.