The record

In 2022 Kevin’s channel carried paid promotions for FTX, the crypto exchange. He disclosed the terms after the collapse: $2,500 per mention. FTX failed in November 2022 and its founder was later convicted of fraud. 3

On March 15, 2023, a class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Garrison et al v. Paffrath et al, naming Kevin first among eight YouTube creators and a talent agency. The complaint alleged the creators were paid to push FTX’s brand without adequately disclosing the scope of their compensation and without due diligence. 1

Kevin was among the first defendants to settle. An agreement in principle was reached May 23, 2023 and a term sheet executed June 1, 2023; the court docket records a full settlement of the claims against him. The company’s Form 1-K states the settlement remains subject to court approval. A March 2024 crypto news report put his figure at $122,000; that number does not appear in the public court record and is unverified. 256

Settling a civil claim is not an admission. The allegations were never tried.

Kevin’s account

Kevin’s account

FTX is a very disappointing moment in social media advertising. I had barely started the relationship when the platform collapsed. Bloomberg Television and CNBC had promoted FTX regularly for months, yet they did not face the publicity that I and other creators did. I had no insight into the platform’s practices, and I regularly advised people to trade on the platform but keep their crypto on their own hardware wallets. I disclosed the relationship, $2,500 per mention, about 3% of that year’s income. The settlement was insurance-led, covering 100% of what I had been paid. I paid nothing out of pocket. I heavily reject the influencer-fraud allegations. Beyond that, no more to say. 4

What to take from it

Two separate questions get mixed together. Did Kevin promote a company that turned out to be a fraud? Yes, with disclosure, like many outlets. Did he know? Nothing in the record says so, and he says he did not. The suit settled early and cheaply relative to the $1 billion claimed, and he calls it a scar. He has not taken a crypto sponsorship since.

In his own videos

• December 8, 2022: what FTX paid him in 2022, $118,000 and $59,287.50, with $70,000 still owed. 7

• March 16, 2023: his reaction to being named in the class action, calling Bankman-Fried and associates frauds and criminals and comparing the theory of the suit to blaming a referring agent for a house. 8

From the company’s annual reports: the settlement is still pending court approval

Every annual report through April 2026 describes the class action the same way: filed March 15, 2023 in the Southern District of Florida; a settlement agreement negotiated with the plaintiffs on June 5, 2023; and, as of the April 30, 2026 filing, the settlement remains pending and subject to judicial approval. So the accurate statement is that he agreed to settle in June 2023 and that the court had not yet approved the settlement three years later. Kevin’s own answer in September 2026, asked what the settlement resolved, was that it is not yet resolved. 9