Crypto sleuth ZachXBT, known for his tireless pursuit of uncovering alleged financial misconduct in the cryptocurrency industry, finds himself at the center of a legal storm. In a surprising turn of events, an entrepreneur he had previously investigated, Jeffrey Huang, has filed a defamation lawsuit against him. 

The accusation stems from ZachXBT’s accusations on June 2022 that Huang, a Taiwanese-American musician and tech executive also known as Machi Big Brother, embezzled a staggering sum of 22,000 ETH, valued at approximately $37.8 million, from a now-defunct crypto treasury management platform. 

What makes this case particularly intriguing is that ZachXBT had meticulously supported his allegations with mountains of concrete on-chain data, lending weight to his assertions. 

At the heart of this dispute lies an intricate web of allegations involving the defunct crypto treasury management platform co-founded by Huang. In an article published last year, ZachXBT implicated Huang in the embezzlement of a staggering 22,000 ETH (equivalent to approximately $37.8 million at the time) from the platform’s treasury.

The article detailed how George Hsieh, co-founder of Formosa Financial, allegedly removed 11,000 ETH from the project’s treasury, which subsequently experienced a tumultuous downfall.

According to ZachXBT’s analysis, the drained funds from the treasury were swiftly dispersed across multiple wallet accounts, including one that also received funds from an ENS domain associated with Harrison Huang.

Connecting the dots, the crypto investigator concluded that these addresses were linked to Jeff Huang/Mithril, ultimately implicating him in the misappropriation of funds.

The on-chain investigator supported his claims with solid blockchain data, highlighting the ETH inflows of angel/private round funds into the multisig prior to the two 11,000 ETH withdrawals executed by Jeff and George on June 22, 2018.

In a retaliatory move, Huang has set his sights on ZachXBT, filing a defamation lawsuit against the crypto sleuth. Huang alleges that the sleuth’s false allegations have caused irreparable damage to his reputation.

A year ago, @zachxbt published a Medium article about me that damaged my reputation. Today, I have filed a defamation lawsuit against him in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

— Machi Big Brother (@machibigbrother) June 16, 2023

Taking to Twitter, Huang publicly announced his intentions to pursue legal action against the on-chain investigator, aiming to hold him accountable for the perceived harm caused.

1/ It’s unfortunate I have to make this thread but I am being sued by MachiBigBrother for an article I published in June 2022.

Today Machi filed the defamation lawsuit. The lawsuit is baseless and an attempt to chill free speech. I intend to fight back & defend free speech. pic.twitter.com/anVY6zXU5a

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 16, 2023

Responding to the lawsuit, ZachXBT vehemently refuted the allegations, deeming the lawsuit “baseless” and an effort to stifle freedom of speech. Undeterred, ZachXBT expressed his determination to fight back against the legal action, asserting that he will not be silenced.

Along with Jess Meyers and the team at Brown Rudnick, I’m honored to represent @zachxbt in his ongoing mission to speak truth to power. https://t.co/Hu2gBlcZD3

— Palley (@stephendpalley) June 16, 2023

Taking the necessary steps to defend his case, ZachXBT has secured legal representation from Brown Rudnick, a reputable Boston-based law firm.

Notably, the firm was previously engaged by the Bahamian government for counsel relating to the collapse of FTX. Furthermore, they achieved success in Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, underscoring their expertise in high-profile defamation cases.

Featured image (Jeffrey Huang) from Business News – Crast.net

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