On-chain analyst ZachXBT comments on defamation suit filed against him

Taiwanese entrepreneur Jeffrey Huang (Machi Big Brother) has filed a defamation lawsuit against blockchain analyst ZachXBT.

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

The suit is related to a 2022 article in which ZachXBT accused Machi Big Brother of misappropriating 22,000 ETH from Formosa Financial, a crypto-asset management company, in 2018.

“A year ago, ZachXBT published a Medium article about me that damaged my reputation. Today I filed a defamation lawsuit against him. […] I have consistently asserted that the statements in his article are false. I look forward to proving this in court,” wrote Huang.

I have consistently maintained that the allegations in his article are false. I look forward to proving through the lawsuit that @ZachXBT unlawfully defamed me.

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

ZachXBT said that he intends to push back and defend free speech. He said that Machi Big Brother is very rich and uses his money to silence the on-chain analyst.

The analyst created an address for donations and asked the audience for help with legal costs, which “could easily exceed $1 million.” He pledged to return any remaining assets proportionally to contributors.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao backed ZachXBT and pledged to transfer $50,000.

#Binance will contribute $50k. Keep up the fight. Keep the industry transparent. ?

— CZ ? Binance (@cz_binance) June 17, 2023

Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell thanked the on-chain analyst for his work and transferred 10 ETH (about $17,300 at the time of writing).

In for 10 ETH. Thanks for all that you do. Good luck.

— Jesse Powell (@jespow) June 18, 2023

Co-founder Polygon Sandeep Nailwal called ZachXBT “the reason Web3 is alive and thriving.” He sent 5 ETH (about $8,650).

Bro, people like you are the reason web3 is alive and flourishing. You protect us and drive us forward.

Here’s 5 eth from my side to help fight this.https://t.co/BiRHLX0wdu https://t.co/tJXkB8O8ZA

— Sandeep Nailwal | sandeep. polygon ? (@sandeepnailwal) June 17, 2023

In April, ZachXBT discovered an address that over 45 days created 114 fraudulent meme tokens and sent the proceeds to a single wallet.

Earlier, the analyst said that rapper Soulja Boy conducted 73 promotions and 16 drops on Twitter, many of which were scams. By his estimate, the earnings could amount to at least $730,000.