BitClout Founder Al-Naji Charged with Fraud

Nader Al-Naji, founder of the crypto social media platform BitClout, has been charged by the SEC and DOJ with fraud and selling unregistered securities. Al-Naji, who raised over $257 million through BitClout's native token BTCLT, allegedly misused $7 million of investor funds for personal luxuries, including renting a Beverly Hills mansion and giving cash gifts to family members. He also purportedly misled investors by presenting BitClout as a decentralized project and using the pseudonym 'DiamondHands' to evade regulatory scrutiny. Charges have extended to Al-Naji's family members, named as relief defendants. If convicted, Al-Naji faces up to 20 years in prison. The case adds to BitClout’s history of controversies, including legal challenges for scraping Twitter profiles without consent.