Launceston crypto YouTuber blames drugs, mental health for investment scandal

A Tasmanian crypto YouTuber has blamed drugs and poor mental health for losing millions of dollars in a failed investment scheme. WHAT HAPPENED >>

Launceston crypto YouTuber Alex Saunders has blamed drugs and poor mental health for losing millions of dollars in a failed investment scheme.

The embattled influencer broke his year-long social media silence on Friday in a public tweet where he apologised to “all those I let down” through his controversial “DCB Project”.

The project was initially pitched to his followers as an idea for a decentralised bank, raising millions of dollars within the span of a few months.

However publicly available transactions show that much of the money he raised went straight into FTX, the cryptocurrency equivalent of the stock exchange.

The Supreme Court of Victoria ordered Mr Saunders to pay nearly $500,000 to one of his followers Ziv Himmelfarb in a civil matter in October last year.

Breaking News Breaking News Controversial cryptocurrency pundit Alex Saunders. Picture: Facebook

The Australian Financial Review calculates that Mr Saunders raised the equivalent of around $15 million AUD from online investors as well as friends and family.

In his Twitter post Mr Saunders said he’d reached out to his investors, who he said had either been repaid or were in the process of being repaid.

Mr Saunders said his actions were driven by an opiate addiction combined with depression, overwork, and the mental toll from his job.

“I spent 10 years building a trusted presence in the crypto space and I am fully aware my recent actions have jeopardised that,” Mr Saunders said.

“I should have spoken up earlier, reached out for help and shared my struggles with mental health and opiates long before things got out of hand.”

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The Twitter post was his first internet appearance since July of 2021, when Mr Saunders was facing legal action from the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Prior to this current scandal Mr Saunders was a prolific poster who produced YouTube videos, wrote articles, and shared crypto investing tips on his Nugget News website.

All of those channels went quiet during the nearly year-long hiatus, however Mr Saunders has signalled that he intends to continue his career as a crypto pundit.

“I’ll share further details in a video soon of my future plans, what I’ve been working on and first airdrops for Nugget’s News NFT Holders,” he said.

“Once again I apologise for my absence, my actions, and to all those I let down.”

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