Did Gary Gensler Break Protocol in the Kim Kardashian Crypto Settlement? (Report)

Gary Gensler made a big announcement on October 3, saying the US media personality and reality star Kim Kardashian had settled with the agency in a fraudulent crypto promotional case.

However, a Fox reporter now claimed that the SEC Chair had violated protocol by overhyping the settlement for his personal political agenda.

Gensler Did it Wrongly?

CryptoPotato reported on October 3 that Kardashian had agreed to pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest for failing to disclose the payment she received for promoting EthereumMax (EMAX).

However, the way it was announced was slightly different than usual. Gary Gensler made and published a video on Twitter, and he also appeared on CNBC to brag about the settlement. The SEC has charged multiple entities in the past several months with similar allegations, but none became so public.

Charles Gasparino, a FOX Business network reporter, claimed that numerous SEC employees complained about the nature of the announcement. More specifically, they believe Gensler “violated protocol” by overhyping the settlement with the reality star and appearing on CNBC “within minutes of the case being announced.”

Quoting people familiar with the matter, Gasparino said they call it a “publicity stunt designed to burnish his rep” to be named the new Treasury Secretary, following reports suggesting that Janet Yellen could soon be replaced.

SCOOP (3/3) Its the latest skirmish between Gensler and enforcement dept that continues to lose attorneys amid complaints about Gensler’s management style & workload as the SEC dives into nontraditional areas of enforcement ie corporate ESG mandates. SEC had no immediate comment

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) October 5, 2022

EMAX Token Pumped

While it’s still debatable if this publicity will help Gensler to take the Treasury Secretary position, it definitely helped the EMAX token.

The asset traded at $0.000000004215 before the news about the settlement came out but skyrocketed by 130% in less than a day to a multi-month high of $0.0000000096.

Despite retracing heavily since then and currently sitting at $0.00000000575, EMAX is still up by around 35% since the SEC announcement.