- American movie star, Zachary Ty Bryan, accused of being involved in a $50,000 crypto scam.
- Bryan reportedly convinced four individuals to participate in an investment opportunity that never materialized.
- Producers Market issued a cease-and-desist after Bryan’s activities came to light.
American movie star faces scam allegations
Zachary Ty Bryan, the American actor in “Home Improvement”, a 1990s TV show, has been accused of defrauding several people of $50,000.
Several individuals have accused the former child actor of collecting $50,000 under the false notion of investing it in exchange for cryptocurrency in an agricultural startup named Producers Market.
The Hollywood Reporter, in an intensive article, mentioned that Bryan allegedly convinced four individuals to invest in an agriculture startup in exchange for cryptocurrency. They claimed that Bryan leveraged his position as a consultant and founding partner of the startup to defraud them.
The further report shows that the Producers Market was originally considered a crypto token purchase that involves offering crypto symbols to entrepreneurs. Bryan allegedly convinced the defrauded individuals to participate in the crypto investment opportunity. The investment opportunity, unknown to the victims, was not confirmed or ventured into yet by the startup.
Producers Market discovered the former child actor, Zachary Ty Bryan, after his success with Bitcoin. They sought his expert counsel, and he became their founding partner.
A report stated that a woman explained how the American film star convinced her to pay $5000 after he presented a contract that seemed genuine. Other individuals claimed they entrusted their funds to him due to his valid association with the company and reputation.
A spokesman from Producers Market confirmed that the company issued a cease and desist order to Bryan immediately after his alleged activities were discovered.
The American movie star, in an interview, refuted the claims made against him. Bryan claimed to be bewildered by the situation and denied any fraudulent behavior.
Despite the accusations, the victims decided not to initiate legal proceedings against Bryan. Neither has Producers Market charged him for his unsavory involvement. The reasons are undisclosed at the moment.
Crypto Influencers, Celebrity Crypto Endorsements, and Scam Allegations
Lately, the crypto industry has been brimming with influencers and celebrities promoting various cryptocurrencies. Many of these promoted crypto projects have led to wallet breaches and lost funds, amongst other losses.
Often, these crypto influencers hide under the popular crypto slang, “Do Your Own Research”, while promoting fraudulent projects.
In October 2022, Kim Kardashian was fined $1.26 million for promoting a scam cryptocurrency project named EthereumMax. The SEC stated that Kim Kardashian failed to disclose the sum she received to promote the crypto project. The act violated the anti-touting provisions of federal securities laws.
In May 2023, the former Securities and Exchanges Commission chief, John Reed Stark, warned crypto influencers against promoting scam crypto projects to their followers.
Last year, a famous Youtube blogger, Ian Balina, known for promoting ICO offerings, was sued by the Securities Exchange Commission. He violated SEC laws by failing to disclose the amount he received to promote a token.
Recently, Bitboy and other content creators were hit with a $1 billion class-action lawsuit for promoting FTX.
