In a Miami-Dade, Florida courtroom on Tuesday, cryptocurrency plaintiff Let’sGoBrandon.com Foundation presented testimony in its case against NASCAR and is seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages.

In 2021, NASCAR driver Brandon Brown needed a sponsor. Cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and visionaries Alexa Giuliani and James Koutoulas stumbled upon a multi-million-dollar idea.

The legal battle between the Foundation and NASCAR began over approved sponsorship, which was later terminated by NASCAR without cause. This has allegedly caused significant damage for many people, which has led to litigation in both state and federal courts.

After Brown won his first NASCAR race at Talladega, Ala. in 2021, he was interviewed by NBC Sports’ Kelli Stavast during the national telecast of the race. Stavast thought the raucous crowd was yelling “Let’s Go Brandon,” when in fact they were yelling a derogatory phrase directed at then-President Joe Biden.

Giuliani came up with the idea to mint a meme coin in support of the “Let’s Go Brandon” movement. They would use the proceeds to sponsor Brown and to raise money for charitable organizations. The meme coin was backed then by current president Donald Trump.

The coin was minted and dubbed LGBcoin in late October 2021. The coin was extremely desirable and went viral almost immediately. After the coin skyrocketed in value, one of the key purposes of the coin was to support charitable giving, political donations, and to promote free speech and pro-American values.

In short order, the proceeds from the coin enabled $500,000 in donations to nonprofit organizations, including Turning Point USA, Project Veritas, the Goodman Institute, and others.

LGBcoin also raised enough money to make over $100,000 for various political candidates and Political Action Committees.  

Sponsorship with BMS Motorsports

The duo also had a plan for Brown. They were going to enter into a sponsorship agreement with Brown’s team, BMS Motorsports, to be the primary sponsor for their car in the 2022-2023 NASCAR Xfinity Cup Season.

BMS was to agree to paint 18 race cars and design its racing suits with LGBcoin’s logo and graphics. In exchange, LGBcoin was going to pay them enough money to last the season.

A deal was struck, and all that was missing was the approval of NASCAR, the racing governing body that must approve all sponsored vehicles that take the track.

Pictures and terms were sent to Dale Howell, who is the director of racing operations for NASCAR. Howell was sent a full sponsorship package. Upon information and belief, Howell studied the proposition and responded, in kind, by sending an email that simply stated, “The sponsors are approved.”  

BMS lived up to its end of the bargain, and a press release was issued announcing the sponsorship. LGBcoin reached a high of $571 million in aggregate worth shortly after the release.

Then the roof caved in, and LGBcoin and Brown were left to pick up the rubble. NASCAR leaked to various media entities that the sponsorship was not approved, which led to the decline of the value of the coin.

NASCAR revoked the approval, which was relied upon by thousands of bona fide purchasers. The overall value dropped by $300 million in a mere few days. On Jan. 4, 2022, NASCAR’s official release dropped.  

Trial Testimony on Tuesday

Koutoulas testified Tuesday for a good portion of the day. Appearing calm, he had the jury engaged in the concept of cryptocurrency. He made his point clear that the deal was submitted to NASCAR, and it was approved. The approval was then revoked, and no reason was given.

Koutoulas also said that a $48 million payment was made to BMS team representative Alex Mascioli, and it was contingent on securing the approval. Mascioli showed Koutoulas the emails, and the deal was consummated.

Koutoulas showed the jury the contracts and walked them through the transaction for $48 million on the blockchain.

According to sources, Howell took the stand on Tuesday and told the court he approved the deal by mistake. He owned up to his mistake, which caused investors, the foundation, and BMS to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in market cap value.

Brown, testifying by video, and stated that NASCAR never said that there were any changes that needed to be made by the foundation or that the logos were not allowed on the car. He also testified that NASCAR, after it revoked the on-track usage and sponsorship, said that permission was not needed to use the logos off the track.  

Giuliani said Tuesday night the whole purpose of “Let’s Go Brandon” was to promote American values and to bring people together.

“We have to restore the foundation’s mission of fighting for unity and toning down the divisive nature of American culture today,” Giuliani said. “It was a poor judgment call by Dale Howell. He approved the last 15 sponsors of Brandon Brown.

“It was a huge detriment to Brandon Brown’s career and a real mistake. They did serious damage to a young man’s career.”

Trial was supposed to conclude on Wednesday, but has been moved to next Monday. There are no timetables for when the jury will reach a verdict.