Udi Wertheimer
But when there are so many projects, it becomes difficult to know which one is worth investing in. After all, some could very well turn out to be unreliable cash-grabs that don’t provide investors any value. That’s why many projects these days are turning to niche influencers to promote their project.
The same technique was employed by FTX, when it hired some big names in the crypto niche to promote the exchange. One of these was Udi Wertheimer, who endorsed FTX right until it went bankrupt. So let’s discuss whether Udi Wertheimer promoted a crypto scam.
Endorsed FTX For Months
In the crypto space, there are new projects popping up every day. These include new NFT projects, cryptocurrencies, and other similar endeavors. In the case of FTX, it was an entire exchange, and the goal was to get as many people as possible to invest their money by storing their cryptocurrencies through the exchange.
To do this, they hired a lineup of top celebrities, as well as well-renowned names in the crypto sphere, which included Udi Wertheimer.
Udi Wertheimer, an anti-Bitcoin maximalist was known for making fun of Bitcoin. But at the same time, he failed to protect his many followers from falling victim to an altcoins scam after they ended up investing their money in FTX.
For months, he made various posts on Twitter in which he endorsed the FTX platform as a reliable way for crypto enthusiasts can store their cryptocurrency. These also included claims about how he used the platform as well.
Promoted Affiliate Links for FTX Sign Ups
In addition to endorsing the exchange for months and most likely getting a hefty compensation, he also shared his own affiliate links. These were promotional links that followers could click on to sign up with FTX.
Whenever one of his followers would use the link to sign up, he would earn a commission on the referral. This means he had two sources of income stemming from FTX – a compensation for endorsing the exchange, and commissions on each referral.
It shows that protecting his followers from the risk of being scammed wasn’t his top priority. Rather, it was to keep the cash flowing. To make matters worse, FTX continued to try getting more investors and users up until the last minute, when it was forced to claim bankruptcy because too many users were withdrawing their funds.
Hence, it’s clear that Wertheimer may have had some idea as to what was going on in the company. Nevertheless, he continued to hide things from his followers until things blow up in their faces.
Accused Victims of Spreading ‘Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt’
While it’s one thing to get caught promoting in the scam, it takes a different kind of ignorance to blame victims who lost all their life savings. Now that many of his followers ended up losing large amounts of money to FTX, Wertheimer has decided to add a disclaimer that he, too, was scammed by the exchange.
To add insult to injury, he accused investors who lost their money of spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt about another exchange, Coinbase. In a Tweet, he made fun of the victims, saying that because they ended up losing all their money on FTX, they have decided to spread fear about other exchanges as well.
Bottom Line
All facts considered, it’s easy to see how Udi Wertheimer ended up promoting a scam. While it can be argued that FTX was a legitimate exchange at one point, one must understand that it became a scam when it failed to maintain transparency and inform investors about conditions at the company.
Consequently, influencers like Udi Wertheimer who continued being paid by the platform should have prioritized the financial well being of their followers rather than a paycheck. While it would be inaccurate to call Wertheimer a crypto scammer, it’s safe to say that he did promote a crypto scam.
