Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather sued over alleged crypto scam

A class action lawsuit has named Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather and basketball star Paul Pierce as defendants for promoting a cryptocurrency called EthereumMax. According to Finbold, the platintiffs sued the celebrities and the still-unidentified entities behind the tokens for causing the value of the Ethereum knockoff to soar so “they could sell their portion of the Float for a profit.” The lawsuit lists anybody who invested in the token between May 14th and June 27th, 2021 as a defendant.

As Gizmodo explains, the claimants are accusing the defendants of perpetrating a “pump and dump” scheme, in which investors sell off their shares to make a lot of money after orchestrating a rise in its value. The lawsuit states that the coin rose 632 percent in value after Mayweather and Pierce promoted it — the boxing star wore shorts with the EthereumMax URL during his exhibition match with Logan Paul, while Pierce tweeted about it. 

Meanwhile, Kardashian posted about EthereumMax on Instagram Stories, telling followers that she heard about it from her friends and linking to its website. According to Morning Consult, 19 percent of the survey respondents who said they heard about Kardiashian’s post invested in EthereumMax as a result. The lawsuit states that the day after Kardashian’s post, the token’s value plummeted by 98 percent. Further, the coin’s creators allegedly sold off their shares before the price drop, as shown by their wallet’s activities. 

Celebrities have been promoting cryptocurrency tokens for a while now and even creating their own. This isn’t the first time or the last that they’ll get caught up in controversies surrounding a token — Mayweather, for instance, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Comission in 2018 for failing to disclose that he was paid $100,000 to promote Centra Tech’s 2017 initial coin offering. Two of Centra Tech’s founders were arrested for securities fraud and wire fraud, with the SEC accusing them of “touting nonexistent relationships between Centra and well-known financial institutions” in an effort to entice people to invest in the ICO. 

5 Scathing Words From Dr. Fauci Brings Down The House On ‘The Late Show’

Stephen Colbert and his audience loved every minute of it.

Zacoe BMW M8 Gran Coupe gives 612hp GT a boy-racer vibe

Without question, the BMW M8 Gran Coupe is a formidable sport-luxury touring machine, most especially in Competition guise. But if you think the styling of your M8 Gran Coupe is too mild for your exotic palate, Australian tuning company Zacoe has the proper antidote to cure your boredom. Zacoe’s body kit for the BMW M8 Gran Coupe is a cacophony … Continue reading

The Morning After: Samsung's next Galaxy flagship is coming soon

So we’re already over the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition, announced just last week. Let’s turn our attention to Samsung’s Galaxy S22 family, apparently ready to officially break cover next month. According to South Korea’s Digital Daily, a launch event is set to take place on February 8th. Judging by the leaks and rumors, you can expect to see three different devices, too, with differing screen sizes, specs and prices. The top of the range Galaxy S22 Ultra may feature a Super Clear Lens on its camera array. We just don’t know quite what that means yet.

When we do, we’ll be sharing all the details with you.

— Mat Smith

Honor is the latest company to launch a foldable phone.

The Magic V has larger screens than the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

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Honor

Are you ready to be confused by yet another similar-looking foldable smartphone? Honor’s Magic V is its first attempt at the foldable form factor, and like Samsung’s Z Fold devices, it’s a dual-screen smartphone. On the outside, it has a 6.45-inch, 431 PPI external display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,080, 120Hz refresh rate and 21:9 aspect ratio. Open it up, and you’ll unfold a 7.9-inch screen that has a 2,272 x 1,984 resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. In a bid to fight the issues of creases on these very expensive devices, Honor says its water-drop hinge helps avoid wrinkles.

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US greenhouse emissions increased by 6.2 percent last year

More people driving contributed to the increase.

Over the last year, US greenhouse emissions increased by 6.2 percent compared to 2020 levels, according to a new report from the Rhodium Group. The jump puts the country further behind meeting the reduction targets put forward by the Paris Climate Agreement. Behind the increase in overall emissions were corresponding jumps in pollution in the transportation and power sectors.

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Razer reneges on its claim the Zephyr mask uses ‘N95-grade’ filters

The company claims the change wasn’t prompted by regulatory pressure.

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Razer

Razer has removed any mention of “N95-grade” filters in its Zephyr and the recently announced Zephyr Pro smart face masks from its website and other marketing materials. “The wearable by itself is not a medical device nor certified as an N95 mask,” a Razer spokesperson told Engadget. “To avoid any confusion, we are in the process of removing all references to ‘N95 Grade Filter’ from our marketing material.”

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Surgeons successfully transplant genetically modified pig heart into a human patient

It was an experimental procedure.

Doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have accomplished a medical first. Its surgeons successfully transplanted a pig heart into a 57-year-old patient as part of an experimental procedure.

They were able to demonstrate that a genetically modified animal organ could survive and function within the human body without immediate rejection. Three days after the procedure, patient David Bennett is alive and “doing well,” according to the hospital.

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Watch the trailer for ‘Bel-Air’

It’s a reimagined origin story for The Fresh Prince.

Bel-Air, Peacock’s modern-day reinterpretation of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, will debut on February 13th, the streamer announced on Monday and shared a first-look trailer. All the main characters from the original return, though they may not be like you remember them.

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Logitech Signature M650 first impressions: One mouse for all people

<img width="1280" height="659" src="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Logitech-M650-off-white-1280×659.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" style="margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%" data-attachment-id="706633" data-permalink="https://www.slashgear.com/logitech-signature-m650-first-impressions-one-mouse-for-all-people-11706631/logitech-m650-off-white/" data-orig-file="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Logitech-M650-off-white.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,741" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Logitech M650 off-white" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Image: Logitech

” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Logitech-M650-off-white-1280×659.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Logitech-M650-off-white-1280×659.jpg” />Today Logitech announced the Signature M650 mouse, and with it, the company is casting as wide a net as possible. While many mice out there only come in one size – and most of them are made for right-handed people – the Signature M650’s angle is that it offers prospective buyers options. Logitech is releasing the Signature M650 in two … Continue reading

Terminally ill U.S. man gets a pig’s heart with a successful transplant

pigs in a sty at farmThe organ donor crisis has long inspired the medical fraternity to look for feasible donors from other species. This week, doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have successfully executed the world’s first heterologous heart transplant, placing a genetically-modified pig’s heart into a terminally ill human being. Note: This article contains imagery and descriptions of human and animal … Continue reading

Hennessey Venom F5 rockets to 250mph in full-bore F5 mode

After watching the Hennessey Venom F5 spit out flames on the dyno, the American tuner and automaker released a new video that gives us a taste of the F5’s propensity for speed. As you may know, the Venom F5 is Hennessey’s 30th-anniversary gift to itself and to 24 wealthy individuals lucky enough to obtain a build slot. In addition, Hennessey … Continue reading

The Associated Press will turn its photojournalism into NFTs

NFTs exploded in popularity during the first two years of the pandemic, and it doesn’t look like they’re going away anytime soon. One of the latest organizations to jump into the craze is the Associated Press (AP), which will start selling its “award-winning contemporary and historic photojournalism” as non-fungible tokens on January 31st. The news agency teamed up with blockchain technology provider Xooa to develop a marketplace for its NFTs, which will debut with an initial collection that will be released over the coming weeks after its launch.

AP’s initial collection includes digitally enhanced Pulitzer Prize-winning images across categories, such as space, climate and war. Each one will include the image’s original metadata that shows the time and date it was taken, its location, and the equipment and settings the photographer used for the shot. They agency says the marketplace will allow people to buy, sell and trade the tokens, which can be purchased using credit cards and crypto wallets. The proceeds it will earn from the sales will then be used to fund its operations. One of the biggest controversies surrounding NFTs is that they have a huge environmental impact. AP says its NFTs will be minted on the Polygon blockchain that was designed to consume less energy than its counterparts. 

Whether AP successfully sells its photos for the kind of money it’s hoping to earn remains to be seen. Adidas made $23 million for its first NFT drop, but Ubisoft barely sold any when it launched its own tokens. Another company that’s reportedly looking to open its own marketplace is GameStop, which (according to The Wall Street Journal) recently formed a cryptocurrency division to work on the project.