DJ Khaled Joins Floyd Mayweather in ICO Promotion
Celebrity endorsements of ICOs continue as DJ Khaled promotes Centra Tech.
On September 27, 2017, musician and producer DJ Khaled publicly endorsed the Centra Tech ICO on social media, following earlier promotions by Floyd Mayweather. His posts showcased Centra debit cards and praised the project, encouraging fans and investors to participate. This endorsement amplified concerns about the role of celebrity influence in speculative, unregulated fundraising.
At the time, celebrity promotions lent an air of legitimacy and created viral hype around ICOs, driving retail participation despite the lack of transparency or investor protections. In hindsight, Centra Tech became infamous as one of the most fraudulent ICOs of the era, later shut down by the SEC with charges against its founders.
The episode stands as a cautionary tale about the dangers of uncritical endorsements and the susceptibility of new investors to marketing over substance. It also reflected the intersection of pop culture, social media, and speculative finance that defined much of the 2017 cryptocurrency boom.https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/29/tech/dj-khaled-floyd-mayweather-coin-crypto-sec