Floyd Mayweather Jr. is "among the many celebrities who have recently endorsed an initial coin offering, the name for a hot but loosely regulated new method of fund-raising in which entrepreneurs sell their own virtual currencies to investors around the world," according to Nathaniel Popper of the N.Y. TIMES. Mayweather in September "told his 13.5 million followers on Facebook not once but twice that they should buy" the virtual currency Centra. His endorsement, as well as one from rapper DJ Khaled, "lent a patina of credibility to a project that has ended up with more than a few problems." Centra’s founders in just a few weeks raised over $30M from investors "around the world." Mayweather has "promoted three different tokens -- Centra, Stox and Hubiits" -- and has "taken to calling himself Crypto Mayweather in social media posts." Centra had plans for a virtual currency debit card, described as a "new product that would make it possible to spend virtual currencies anywhere Visa cards were taken." The company’s site "showed Centra cards emblazoned with the Visa logo." But the company had "not been approved, or had even applied, to run a Centra card on the Visa network." Popper noted no investors "verified the company’s credentials" and a "basic background check would have turned up the numerous run-ins with the law" that Centra co-Founder Sam Sharma has had. Swanson Communications President Kelly Swanson, whose company works with Mayweather Promotions, said that Mayweather had been "paid in cash for the posts and was not involved in any continuing relationship with Centra" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/29).
