Maren Altman, a famous Bitcoin astrologer, becomes the center of criticism following the bankruptcy case of the crypto lending platform, Celsius. Twitter users blame the influencer for not giving a heads-up about the company going down.
Maren is one of the youngest influencers in the crypto space and has over 1.8 million followers on social media. Widely known for her astrological readings about Bitcoin, she snatched a promotional deal with Celsius, receiving $30,000 as payment. The star has been actively advertising the company through her social media platform until it recently went bankrupt.
Twitter backlashes Maren Altman
In the recent court filing of Celsius, a Twitter user @BowTiedIguana pointed out that the financial statement indicates Maren was being paid $15,000 for promotional content.
Later, a famous Twitter investigator ZachXBT accused Altman of denying her exchange deal with the platform by linking her interview with Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky. They also posted screenshots where someone asked her if she was paid in CEL tokens. Later on Oct 9, she shared that she wasn’t paid for the interview; it was a “favor.”
Twitter critics believe the influencer was falsely promoting Celsius, while it struggled with its cash flows and finances. Nonetheless, Maren denied such allegations, claiming that her content was solely for commercial purposes like any other brand. “Not a clue, no visibility on anything other than my marketing campaign,” she said in an interview.
“My error was trusting Celsius,” Maren added.
According to the contract she signed, the influencer had to make “2 YouTube video” mid-roll ads every month and 2 TikTok mentions of Celsius for $15,000. The paper also stated “NOT TALK ABOUT CEL TOKEN. No past, present or future statements, analysis, charts of information of any kind.” This means she wasn’t allowed to share her involvement even if asked.
Celsius’ bankruptcy is a big scandal in the crypto space right now. People had poured thousands of dollars into the crypto lending platform but are now left with nothing but frozen accounts. Recently, Mashinsky withdrew $17M from the company before it froze all finances and went bankrupt, causing much uproar among consumers and stakeholders.
Frustrated by the progressing events, the consumers have turned towards Maren for allegedly promoting Celsius but the influencer refused all claims and also announced she would file a defamation lawsuit against the blamers.
For Twitter, Maren is guilty of actively participating in Celsius’ crimes but the influencer claims it was purely promotional and nothing else. Will she file for a lawsuit or will she be investigated by the crypto lending platform? The question is yet to be answered.
