The Australian crypto influencer Alex Saunders has been sued for almost half a million dollars by a follower of his YouTube channel and advice service Nugget News.
Saunders is an ex-pharmacist who runs a YouTube channel that provides the latest crypto news.
The case has been filed by, New Zealand-based Ziv Himmelfarb, on Wednesday in the Victorian Supreme Court seeking 479,270 Australian dollars in losses and damages for the money he loaned him for a yet-to-be-realized cryptocurrency project.
According to Himmelfarb, he has been following Saunders’ crypto commentary since 2017, “He made some great calls and to me, he was the No. 1 person to follow in the crypto space.”
It was a no-brainer for me to trust him.
Himmelfarb alleges that he first invested 4 BTC with Saunders on Feb 17, after the influencer offered him crypto exposure through Facebook Messenger. At the time the value of invested BTC was $198,646.
Saunders also asked him to invest in a DCB project and he transferred $50,000 worth of stablecoins for his project. Himmelfarb alleges that Saunders does not possess the licensing needed to offer investment products to the public.
He further alleges that he transferred 30 ETH coins in May to Saunders after the YouTuber reached out to him for help with “liquidity issues”.
“When he told me he had temporary liquidity issues in May, I was glad to help with a short-term loan, but couldn’t get any of my money back since then. Hopefully, I can get repaid,” Himmelfarb said.
The $479,270 in loss and damages Himmelfarb is seeking from Saunders includes the monetary value of the Bitcoins, USD Coins, and ETH coins, as well as interest and costs.
