Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, posted a photo of rapper DJ Khaled wearing a Chelsea jersey branded with "USDC by Circle" on Monday, with CEO Jeremy Allaire welcoming him to "team USDC." The posts contained no announcement of a sponsorship or ambassador role.
The posts sparked immediate criticism from the crypto community. Circle is Chelsea Football Club's official front-of-shirt sponsor, and Khaled appears in connection with the club through a separate Roc Nation deal announced in May.
Khaled's Crypto Promotion History
Community members cited Khaled's past involvement with cryptocurrency promotions. In September 2017, Khaled promoted Centra Tech's CTR token on Instagram to his 12.4 million followers, calling it "the ultimate winner in Cryptocurrency debit cards." According to the SEC, Centra paid Khaled $50,000 for the post without disclosure to his followers.
The SEC charged Khaled with failing to disclose that the promotion was a paid endorsement, a violation of securities law. He settled with the agency and paid over $150,000 in fines. Khaled agreed not to accept payment for promoting securities for two years, an agreement that expired on November 29, 2020.
Centra Tech was later exposed as fraudulent. Prosecutors stated the company's claimed Visa and Mastercard partnerships were fake, and its listed CEO did not exist. The company raised over $25 million before collapsing. Co-founder Robert Farkas pleaded guilty and received one year and one day in prison. Co-founder Sohrab Sharma received eight years and was ordered to forfeit $36 million.
Community Response
Crypto community members expressed concern about the association. Joseph Schiarizzi posted on X: "Please don't work with scammers like this." Pseudonymous analyst Wazz Crypto sarcastically suggested Circle sponsor other celebrities with enforcement histories. Taylor Monahan, formerly of MetaMask, criticized the post on X, questioning whether Circle had hired Khaled.
The SEC and DOJ never charged Khaled with fraud, only with failing to disclose a paid endorsement.
