Government Watchdog Alarmed by Kim Kardashian’s Crypto Plug

The U.K.’s financial watchdog raised the alarm Monday about influencers pushing speculative cryptocurrency, pointing the finger at Kim Kardashian’s paid plug for digital tokens. Charles Randell, head of the Financial Conduct Authority, disclosed that her Instagram post was an ad, but she did not have to tell her fans that the crypto was extremely risky, having been created just a month earlier. “When she was recently paid to ask her 250 million Instagram followers to speculate on crypto tokens by ‘joining the Ethereum Max Community,’ it may have been the financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history,” Randell said in a speech, according to Bloomberg. “These tokens have only been around for a few years, so we haven’t seen what will happen over a full financial cycle. We simply don’t know when or how this story will end, but—as with any new speculation—it may not end well.” Kardashian, who became a billionaire earlier this year, had no immediate comment.