- A crypto influencer, Evan Luthra, has instituted legal actions against Bitget, a crypto exchange that froze his account.
- Luthra claimed that Bitget Exchange stole $200,000 from him.
- Bitget Exchange regarded the allegations as false.
Crypto Influencer Accuses Bitget Exchange of Scam
Evans Luthra, a crypto influencer and advisor with over 100,000 Twitter followers, has sued Bitget Exchange for freezing his account and ruining his advisory relationship.
He also claimed that the crypto exchange scammed him of $200,000.
In 2022, Luthra promoted Reelstar, a startup that raised $5 million in an ICO. He was an advisor to the creator-oriented crypto project, which he promoted on his page to his followers. The project paid him with promises of more tokens as their partnership proceeded.
Reelstar paid Evans Luthra 1% of the token supply for his advisory and marketing services. It was agreed that Luthra would be paid in batches, but he was only paid once. The token plummeted heavily, and the token was delisted on Bitget a day after its listing.
Bitget Exchange stated its reasons for delisting the token a day after it was listed. According to the crypto exchange, hours after the token went live, a few accounts began to dump the token. The exchange identified that one of the accounts was managed by the project’s advisor.
“In a short time, these accounts sold more than 2 million REELT tokens, receiving nearly 400,000 USDT. At the same time, the price of REELT dropped from an opening price of 0.07 USDT to 0.028 USDT—a decrease of over 60%,” Bitget Exchange explained.
Luthra said that he sold 1.3 million tokens from his account that day. He claimed that the project’s founder permitted him to do it.
The Reelstar team paused the token’s trading on other platforms, citing price disparity.
“The price drop triggered plenty of complaints in the Bitget and REELT community, and many of them see it as a potential exit scam,” Bitget’s spokesperson told Coindesk.
Consequently, the crypto influencer lost his advisory position with Reelstar and the reward he was entitled to after the project’s success.
The aftermath of freezing Luthra’s Bitget account and delisting the token has led the crypto influencer to believe that the crypto exchange is responsible for ruining his advisory relationship with Reelstar and losing his rewards.
Bitget Exchange Responds to Allegations
Bitget Exchange responded to his claims of being scammed by the exchange in an article.
The crypto exchange provided evidence that refutes the crypto influencer’s claims.
According to Bitget, Luthra’s account was active for two hours after the token’s trading went live. Contrary to his claims, the Bitget team provided receipts that suggest he was dumping the tokens.
Despite the crypto exchange’s rebuttal of the allegations, Evans Luthra advocates against Bitget Exchange. He constantly reminds Crypto Twitter of how he was allegedly scammed of $200,000 by Bitget.
Conclusion
The crypto industry is filled with several crypto influencers who often serve as advisors to crypto projects.
A crypto marketer or advisor dumping tokens on his followers is a common occurrence in the crypto space. Many crypto influencers sell their share of the tokens once trading goes live, resulting in great investor losses.
