MachiBigBrother sued ZachXBT over an investigation it published in June 2022, alleging that the trader stole tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies. Here are the details…
ZachXBT accused of ‘smearing’
NFT trader MachiBigBrother, also known as Jeffrey Huang, has sued ZachXBT, an independent blockchain detective, after the on-chain sleuth published a report alleging that Huang embezzled tens of millions of dollars in crypto last year. The lawsuit, filed Friday in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that ZachXBT defamed MachiBigBrother and “inflicted serious reputational and material damage.”
Not only did MachiBigBrother’s attorney continue to post his defamatory article on Medium.com, notwithstanding the devastating impact that public allegations of criminal conduct can have on the accused, but also the article has reached more than 300,000 Twitter followers. He announced it maliciously.”
Where did this cryptocurrency thing come from?
The lawsuit references an investigation ZachXBT posted on its blog and Twitter in June 2022, alleging that MachiBigBrother manipulated the crypto markets and embezzled 22,000 Ether, worth approximately $38 million at the time of writing. ZachXBT responded to the lawsuit on Twitter on Friday, describing it as “a classic story of David [and] Goliath.” “I understand Machi[BigBrother] is very rich,” ZachXBT tweeted. “Not me. He’s using his money to try to silence me,” he added.
In the same Twitter thread, the crypto detective complained that fighting the case could cost more than $1 million. He asked his followers to donate crypto to a wallet reserved for his legal expenses. “I ask for your help so that this does not happen and truth survives,” he said. The wallet has raised nearly $500,000 worth of crypto donations.
Who is ZachXBT?
The petition requests the court to order ZachXBT to pay “actual and compensatory damages” as well as “exemplary damages” in an amount to be determined by the court. He also demands reimbursement of Jeffrey Huang’s legal fees accumulated during the upcoming legal battle. ZachXBT rose to prominence in the crypto community after publishing their original Blockchain data analysis that allegedly exposed the evils of bad actors populating the decentralized finance and Web3 spaces. His research has helped him follow over 400,000 Twitter users and has him on Consensus Magazine’s 2022 Most Influential list.
ZachXBT, who describes himself as an “on-chain sleuth,” frequently publishes the results of his research in Twitter threads and Medium blog posts. His detective work led to real-world arrests and received so much attention on social media that he had to stop accepting community requests to investigate malicious activity in the crypto space last March.
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