The Cryptocurrency President raped his wife and made her his personal groom: a lawsuit

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by Kathian Bonello

A major cryptocurrency figure subjected his wife to years of twisted sexual abuse, she alleged in a lawsuit.

Max Hartman allegedly punished his wife in shocking ways when she didn't have sex with him upon request, according to court papers.

During one conversation, Hartman allegedly texted her that she was not allowed to eat the food he had bought for their home in Chelsea, according to the messages in the lawsuit.

“If you want to participate in my award, you have to be nice to me,” he wrote. “I'll let you eat one of my bananas today as a goodwill gesture but definitely not ice cream.”

Hartman, 34, has often made fun of her weight and clothing. It is required regularly [her] “To groom his private areas,” she even bent over and asked to film him from behind to inspect the job she had done, the ex, identified in court papers only as SS, said in the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

They met as teenagers and dated briefly but broke up when Hartman pressured the 13-year-old to have sex, the woman alleged. They got back together when she graduated from college.

He allegedly forced her to have sex three times during their more than decade-long relationship, including an attack that left her bleeding, according to court papers.

The SS did not report the attacks to the police.

“Little by little, he made me feel very small and worthless,” SS, now 32, told The Washington Post. “It was horrific. While this was happening, I felt inside that something wasn't right, but every time I tried to defend myself he would twist my words and make me wrong. . . . It may sound ridiculous, but you get frustrated enough, and it's said You are wrong enough, and you start to believe it.

SS claims in the lawsuit that Harman co-owns CardCoins, an online service that allows users to trade prepaid gift cards for Bitcoin, and is a co-organizer of BitDevs, a cryptocurrency social network with more than 5,000 members in New York City alone.

She claimed he used CardCoins gift cards “to cover most of his living expenses,” including private flights and rent for their $10,000-a-month apartment.

Hartman has twice been stopped by law enforcement while traveling with large amounts of cash, including a November 2018 incident on Amtrak in Chicago, where authorities found $884,630 in cash in his luggage, and in March 2019, while trying to board a private plane. Federal court papers show.

In the 2019 incident, authorities said $409,805 that Hartman placed in a large black duffel bag “was packaged in a manner consistent with drug proceeds,” they said in court records.

Each time, he was released without charges, and authorities eventually returned most of the money to Hartman, according to court documents.

When the SS finally broke things off last year, Hartmann demanded that he continue using the apartment for video meetings so no one would know they had broken up; He repeatedly sent her insulting messages, and again sneaked out while she wasn't there to secretly record himself having sex with other women, she alleged in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit includes photos that allegedly show Hartman setting up the hidden camera.

She found a collection of videos of secret sex on several SD cards that Hartman apparently left behind, according to the lawsuit, including a clip in which a woman can be heard negotiating $10,000 for penetration.

In January, he allegedly sent her a link to a Reddit thread about a woman who discovered her boyfriend was secretly recording her sexual encounters, prompting SS to notify other women in the recordings she found.

In response, Hartmann allegedly falsely accused the SS of urging him to commit suicide, as claimed by the SS, who then decided to file a lawsuit.

In a lengthy statement, Hartmann denied working for CardCoins, claimed that he and SS were never married and that he was never violent. Regarding the hidden camera allegation, he said, “I'm pretty sure the photos in the complaint were from a pet camera she had me set up to monitor her cats.”

“As the value of digital assets continues to rise, investors and industry executives are increasingly being targeted by unscrupulous actors of all stripes,” he told The Post.

“Since we were never married, there was no divorce settlement. Apparently this is how she thinks she can get her pound of flesh,” he said.

CardCoins said in a statement that Hartmann does not work for the company and is not a co-owner, while calling the lawsuit “extremely bizarre, misleading and defamatory.” CardCoins has not been sued by SS

SS is seeking unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, rape and other claims.

“I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through,” she said.

Hartmann can be seen in hidden camera video footage setting up the device immediately before having sex, asserts SS attorney Daniel Zalkiewicz, who added: “The claims that cameras were used to watch the cat are belied by recordings of other women at his pet-free place.” Harlem apartment as well.

“No one should have to endure the hardships our client went through at the hands of Mr. Hartman,” he continued. “We look forward to a court holding Mr. Hartman accountable.”