An altcoin project named Bitcoin Latinum, which takes its name from a type of money that exists only in the Star Trek universe, has been sued. An investor in this little-known cryptocurrency says he was scammed for more than $15 million. Here are the details…
The claim that altcoin received investment from Star Trek
In a new lawsuit filed earlier this month, the investor’s lawyer, Arshad Assofi, talked about the cryptocurrency, which is allegedly “greener” and “faster” than traditional coins. He wrote that this coin is “worthless” and “fraud”. The lawyer also drew attention to the allegations of Don Basile, the founder of Bitcoin Latinum, in his complaint. The attorney stated that he said the project received “$20 million” from “Star Trek producers” and other alleged non-existent investors.
Paramount, the production company behind the famous sci-fi series and its numerous spin-offs, has stated that they have no affiliation with cryptocurrency. “Nobody is familiar with ‘Bitcoin Latinum’,” Paramount spokesperson Jennifer Verti said. Meanwhile, Carlos Nevarez, marketing director of Bitcoin Latinum, said that Basile never claimed to have received investment from Star Trek. Nevarez added that Assofi’s fraud allegations were “completely false”.
On the other hand, Bitcoin Latinum is backed by Phil Hellmuth, a well-known professional poker player. He has been photographed multiple times at poker tables wearing baseball caps embroidered with Bitcoin Latinum. As a result, the cryptocurrency has garnered some attention in the professional poker community.
Bitcoin Latinum has been sued before
Bitcoin Latinum and Basile were previously sued twice earlier this year by two separate groups of victim investors alleging similar securities fraud in lawsuits filed in federal courts in Michigan and Northern California. Although the Northern California case has since been withdrawn, the Michigan case remains.
Bitcoin Latinum’s lawyers wrote in a court filed last month in the Michigan case that the company did not violate any securities laws. It also “denies that Plaintiffs were harmed by any of the Respondent’s actions.” Bitcoin Latinum described these lawsuits as “nonsense” in a statement on its website that appears to have been written in early 2022. In new court documents submitted Tuesday, Bitcoin Latinum’s lawyers stated that they will petition to dismiss Assofi’s lawsuit.
LTNM price dropped close to 100 percent
Meanwhile, the price of LTNM has dropped nearly 100 percent year-on-year. The current price of the coin, which broke a record $300 on December 19 last year, is $0.2307. It recorded its all-time low about 6 days ago. It fell to $0.2021.
