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Steven Seagal Charged With Illegally Promoting Cryptocurrency

The actor allegedly put out a press release titled “Zen Master Steven Seagal Has Become the Brand Ambassador of Bitcoiin2Gen.”

Actor Steven Seagal has been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with failing to disclose payments he received to promote an investment in a cryptocurrency scheme. The 67-year-old did not admit to, or dispute, the SEC’s charge but agreed to pay a $157,000 fine, the SEC said in a statement. Seagal allegedly failed to disclose that he was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 in tokens from Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G) in exchange for his promotions, which included posts on his social media accounts encouraging the public not to “miss out” on B2G’s initial coin offering. He also allegedly put out a press release titled “Zen Master Steven Seagal Has Become the Brand Ambassador of Bitcoiin2Gen” which said that he endorsed the ICO “wholeheartedly.” The SEC has previously warned that coins sold in ICOs may be securities and therefore anyone who promotes them must disclose it.