Renowned blockchain investigator ZachXBT has experienced an outpouring of support from the cryptocurrency community, surpassing an impressive $1 million in donations within a span of just over 24 hours. These generous contributions are intended to aid ZachXBT in covering his legal expenses related to a defamation lawsuit.
ZachXBT has made a name for himself through his meticulous investigative work within the blockchain and cryptocurrency sphere. However, he now finds himself entangled in a legal dispute with Jeffrey Huang, better known as MachiBigBrother on Twitter.
On June 16, Huang took to Twitter to reveal that he had filed a lawsuit alleging defamation against ZachXBT. The lawsuit claims that ZachXBT has tarnished Huang’s reputation by making false accusations. Although the specific nature of these allegations was not disclosed by Huang, ZachXBT published an article in June 2022 titled “22,000 ETH Embezzled and Over Ten Projects Failed: The Story of Machi Big Brother (Jeff Huang),” where he accused Huang of orchestrating “over 10 failed pump and dump tokens and NFT projects.”
3/ I am creating a donation address to assist with legal costs associated with the defense of this matter, which could easily exceed $1m USD.
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 16, 2023
All leftover funds will be returned on a pro rata basis to contributors.
In response to the legal action, ZachXBT expressed his view on Twitter through a series of tweets on June 17. He vehemently denounced the lawsuit as “baseless” and characterized it as an attempt to stifle freedom of speech. Aware of the substantial costs associated with the legal proceedings, ZachXBT established a donation wallet address to solicit assistance from his followers. He anticipates that his legal fees could easily exceed the $1 million milestone.
Despite feeling disheartened by the lawsuit, ZachXBT acknowledged that he had anticipated such consequences, understanding that truthfulness often comes at a price. He shared his perspective in a tweet, stating, “The price of telling the truth is sometimes people dislike what you say.”
In for 10 ETH. Thanks for all that you do. Good luck.
— Jesse Powell (@jespow) June 18, 2023
ZachXBT’s endeavors in the crypto and Web3 industry have garnered admiration from influential figures within the field. Notably, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEO of Binance, expressed his support for ZachXBT, urging him to uphold transparency in the industry. CZ pledged Binance’s contribution of $50K towards ZachXBT’s legal expenses.
Jesse Powell, the co-founder of Kraken, also commended ZachXBT for his outstanding work and announced his donation of 10 Ether (ETH). As of the time of writing, this amount equates to approximately $17,294.30.
Furthermore, Sandeep Nailwal, the founder of Polygon, took to Twitter to declare that ZachXBT is instrumental in the vibrancy and vitality of Web3. Nailwal pledged his own donation of 5 ETH, which is valued at around $8,645.35 as of now.
Remarkably, just one day after ZachXBT shared the link to the donation wallet address on Twitter, the cumulative contributions surpassed the $1 million mark.
In a noteworthy development from October 2022, Cointelegraph reported that French authorities had relied on ZachXBT’s research to press charges against five individuals suspected of pilfering nonfungible tokens worth $2.5 million through phishing scams. This incident exemplifies the profound impact of ZachXBT’s investigative work in the industry.
ZachXBT’s determination to uncover the truth and shed light on the inner workings of the blockchain and cryptocurrency domain has garnered significant support from the crypto community. Their unwavering commitment to justice has enabled ZachXBT to secure substantial financial resources in his legal battle, bolstering his prospects of overcoming this daunting challenge.