Steven Seagal Settles Charges of Unlawfully Promoting Cryptocurrency

Steven Seagal, the actor best known for playing hard-bitten cops and commandos in action movies, has agreed to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose that he was being paid to promote a cryptocurrency investment on his social media accounts.

The S.E.C. said on Thursday that Mr. Seagal, who lives in Moscow and holds both Russian and American citizenship, was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 worth of cryptocurrency from the company Bitcoiin2Gen in exchange for endorsing its initial coin offering, a crowdfunding strategy that involves creating and selling the virtual currency.

In 2018, Facebook and Twitter accounts belonging to Mr. Seagal posted several times about the coin offering, calling him the “worldwide ambassador” for the company, the S.E.C. said. The posts did not disclose that Mr. Seagal, 67, was being paid for the promotions. The S.E.C. said that Mr. Seagal, who is also a trained martial artist, had 6.7 million…