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Bitget freezes account of KOL for malicious dumping, KOL sues for $16 million in compensation.

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Bitget freezes account of KOL for malicious dumping, KOL sues for $16 million in compensation.

Biget recently listed token REELT experienced a sharp drop upon trading, prompting its immediate delisting. After investigation, Biget found evidence of market manipulation by market makers and a key opinion leader (KOL), leading to the freezing of accounts and the implementation of a compensation plan for affected users. The KOL has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Biget seeking $16 million in damages, while Biget maintains its stance, strongly refuting the allegations and stating its intention to take legal action.

Biget Listing Project: Reel Token (REELT)

In March this year, Bitget announced the listing of a new project, Reel Token (REELT), on its innovation zone. REELT is the native token of the social entertainment platform "Reel star" and is deployed on Polygon and BNB Chain.

Users can earn REELT tokens as rewards while using Reel star, and REELT is also used as a payment and governance token within the application.

Reel star has engaged a KOL named Evan Luthra as an advisor, leading to a series of subsequent disputes.

Key Figure of Bitget Controversy: Evan Luthra

  • Twitter: 103k followers

  • Instagram: 2.46M followers

  • Forbes Tech Council contributor

  • Claimed to be selected for Forbes "Forbes 30 under 30"

  • Delivered a TEDx Talk, receiving negative comments

  • Featured in a dedicated episode by YouTuber Coffeezilla

Evan Luthra Twitter X

Advisor Evan Luthra's Controversial Actions

Due to the lack of explanation from the Reel Token project regarding this event, some content is referenced from CoinDesk's report.

Cointelegraph covered this incident, but the article has been taken down.

Evan Luthra stated that he started providing consultations for ReelStar since October last year. ReelStar promised to distribute 150 million REELT tokens in batches over 20 months.

Project founder Nick Bahl also made a commitment to him that he could freely sell the tokens. Evan Luthra believes he did nothing wrong.

He claimed to have received 7.5 million REELT tokens only before the token was listed and sold 1.3 million on Bitget. He also sold tokens on MEXC and Gate, but only Bitget encountered issues.

REELT Listing Plunge, Bitget: No Tolerance for Misconduct

Following the listing of REELT on Bitget, the price plummeted from 0.07 to 0.028 USDT, a drop of over 60%.

In a statement, Bitget highlighted:

  • Massive deposits and trading from 3 market-making accounts and 1 advisor account

  • The market makers were "selling only" which contradicts market-making logic

  • Bitget froze relevant accounts

  • Bitget delisted REELT in the same month

  • Compensated users who bought at an average price exceeding 0.020235 USDT

According to Gate data, REELT has dropped to $0.009, a decline of over 72%.

REELT Daily Chart

Evan Luthra Seeks $16 Million in Damages

Evan Luthra recently stated that besides losing $200,000 due to his frozen account by Bitget, his advisory contract with the project ReelStar was terminated after the token listing, meaning he will not receive the promised 150 million tokens.

Additionally, he claimed to have filed a lawsuit against Bitget, seeking $16 million in damages.

The tweet garnered up to six thousand retweets.

Bitget: Strongly Disagrees with Allegations

A spokesperson for Bitget told CoinDesk that they have been trying to contact the ReelStar team but communication has been minimal. They stated:

Furthermore, Bitget's General Manager, Gracy Chen, defended the platform on Twitter, emphasizing that Bitget has proposed and fully implemented a user compensation plan.

She also mentioned Evan Luthra's past history of fraud and although Bitget has not received any formal legal notice, they strongly disagree with any allegations made by Evan Luthra.