The cryptocurrency community and leading businesses have rallied in support of ZachXBT, a highly respected blockchain investigator, who is facing defamation charges. Over $1 million in stablecoins and tokens have been donated to his cause in a striking demonstration of solidarity, as revealed by on-chain analytics tool Nansen.
ZachXBT has received contributions from hundreds of wallets in various forms, including USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), Dai (DAI), and even memecoins like JESUS and PEPE.
Prominent backers include Binance, CertiK, a top security firm, and Justin Sun, the creator of Tron. The majority of these funds were received on the Ethereum blockchain. Smaller amounts were also donated from other platforms, such as Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Optimism, Polygon, and Fantom-based tokens.
To ensure the security of the funds, ZachXBT transferred them to another address, as indicated by blockchain data on Monday morning.
The legal dispute originated when NFT trader Jeffrey Huang, also known as MachiBigBrother, lodged a lawsuit against ZachXBT. Huang accused the blockchain investigator of defamation. In the previous year, ZachXBT had published a report alleging that Huang had embezzled tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that ZachXBT’s actions have caused significant reputational and financial damage to Huang. The complaint charges ZachXBT with one count of libel and one count of defamation per se.
Responding to the lawsuit, ZachXBT reached out to his followers for support to cover the legal costs. The aim was to raise at least $1 million, and the generous donations received so far underscore the community’s commitment to safeguarding independent voices in the blockchain sector.
