JianHao Tan gives friend 'benefit of the doubt' after shared crypto wallet allegedly hacked, S$580,000 lost

© Provided by Mothership

On May 6, YouTuber JianHao Tan tweeted about how he had lost his non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrency, and "worst of all... a friend."

In the series of tweets, Tan also mentioned that he had been "betrayed" by the person.

While that may lead some to think that the friend has since made away with the assets, Tan clarified that it was not the case with Mothership.

In response to our queries, the 28-year-old CEO of Titan Digital Media said that his friend has agreed to pay him back privately, adding that "everything has been sorted out" on their end.

Tan elaborated that he does not blame his partner and they are "still good friends now".

What happened

Tan posted the following tweets on May 6, sharing about how he had "been betrayed by [his] partner," causing him to lose his NFTs and currencies.

I’m been down with Covid for the past week. But the amount of negativity I’ve been dealing with mentally, emotionally has greatly surpassed any effects of Covid. I’ve been betrayed by my partner, lost my BAYC, lost all APE, ETH and worst of all, lost a friend.

— hao (@thejianhaotan) May 6, 2022

For the uninitiated, BAYC is an acronym for Bored Ape Yacht Club, which is a NFT collection.

© Provided by Mothership Examples of BAYC NFTs. Images via boredapeyachtclub.com.

APE refers to ApeCoin, a cryptocurrency that has been linked to Yuga Labs, the creator of BAYC.

ETH refers to ether—a cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin.

© Provided by Mothership Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash.

He claimed he got hacked. But everything’s on the blockchain. Showed him the evidence and he ghosted me ever since. I guess I’ll tell the full story when I’m ready. For now, I’m back here and it’s just me now.

— hao (@thejianhaotan) May 6, 2022

Investigation underway

Speaking to Mothership, Tan said that he had entrusted some of his NFTs to a shared wallet with a partner.

"I never expected this to happen because it was someone whom I was quite close to," he added.

While Tan had experienced bad business partnerships in the past, he revealed that he was "particularly upset in this case" because it was his close friend, and he stopped replying to Tan.

Upon finding out more, his close friend was allegedly hacked, and he did not gamble the assets away, Tan said.

"Our total combined loss was 200 ETH when he got hacked," Tan revealed, but declined to share his portion.

For the record, 200 ETH is worth around S$580,000.

According to Tan, investigations are ongoing and Tan has decided to "give him the benefit of doubt for now".

Tan also said that the close friend agreed to pay him back privately.

The YouTuber reiterated that he does not blame his partner and they "are still good friends now," adding that "it's just an unfortunate incident."

Tan also addressed the tweets he posted:

"My tweets were to share with the community about my frustration of somehow always finding myself in situations where I trust the wrong things in the wrong hands. It was never to 'accuse' anyone."

You can see the rest of his tweets here:

All my relationships have been based on trust. I trust people easily and often try to see the best in them. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. Unfortunately in this case, I have to learn in the hard way 😔

— hao (@thejianhaotan) May 6, 2022

Money doesn’t change a person. It only reveals and magnifies who they truly are.

— hao (@thejianhaotan) May 6, 2022

He reported that it was hacked. I’ve decided to give benefit of doubt. I guess eventually the truth will come out.

— hao (@thejianhaotan) May 8, 2022

Top images by @thejianhaotan and @debbwie on Instagram.