(HOUSTON) — SafeMoon CEO and a list of celebrity endorsers for the cryptocurrency firm have been sued by investors for misrepresentation. A complaint filed in February cites the tech company and its ambassadors for fraudulent representation of SafeMoon’s crypto token and stakeholder ownership.
Jake Paul’s SafeMoon tweet from March 2021 [Credit: Case 2:22-cv-01108-SVW-MRW]
Along with SafeMoon CEO John Karony, the defendants include Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter, rappers Lil’ Yachty and Soulja Boy, and boxer/social media personality Jake Paul. (According to court documents, Paul has reached an initial settlement agreement with the plaintiffs.)
According to the complaint, Gen Z entrepreneur Karony utilized the social media profiles of public figures like Paul and Carter to generate hype surrounding the SafeMoon coin. Karony also leveraged SafeMoon’s own Reddit profile to crowdfund for a high-profile billboard campaign, the suit alleges.
A SafeMoon advertisement in Times Square [Credit: Case 2:22-cv-01108-SVW-MRW Document via “r/SafeMoon”]
The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by the court.
As of May 10, 2023 Coinbase noted the current price of one SAFEMOON token as $0.0000000065, far below the all-time high of $7.97 recorded shortly before allegations of fraud were filed.
SafeMoon CEO John Karony did not reply to a request for comment by The Click.
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