Investors Sue Partner Over Alleged Theft of Hashling NFT Profits

On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, a group of investors filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against their business partner, Joshua Mills, alleging he misappropriated millions in profits from their Hashling nonfungible token (NFT) and bitcoin mining venture for personal use.

The plaintiffs, Dustin Steerman, Andrew Hill, Brian Spitz, Aman Agarwal, and Valerio Puggioni, claim Mills deceived them by falsely stating that the project’s assets, including Hashling NFT sales and bitcoin mining revenue, were transferred to a holding company, Proof of Work Labs LLC. According to the complaint, Mills promised the investors equity returns to secure their participation but failed to deliver, retaining control of the project’s funds, which included at least $3 million from bitcoin mining and millions from NFT sales.

The lawsuit details that the Hashling project began in 2023 when Steerman and Mills discussed a concept for an NFT-based venture. Despite Mills’ lack of funds and NFT experience, Steerman partnered with him due to his promising idea and early collaboration. To ensure the project’s success, the duo recruited Hill, Spitz, and Agarwal at an NFT conference in New York, with Puggioni later joining for marketing efforts based on his connection with Agarwal. Mills allegedly offered each investor a specific equity stake to incentivize their contributions.

The team launched an initial batch of Hashling NFTs on the Solana blockchain in August 2023, raising $260,000, followed by a second release on the bitcoin blockchain that generated approximately $1.2 million. The complaint credits Spitz for significant contributions to the NFT’s artistic development and workflow, Hill for critical marketing efforts, Agarwal for promotion and team recruitment, and Puggioni for leveraging his social media influence to build a substantial following for the project in just two months, driving its revenue.

The plaintiffs allege Mills misrepresented that Proof of Work Labs held the project’s assets and provided flawed shareholder agreements to support his claims. They assert that they continued working on the project based on these false assurances, to their financial detriment. The lawsuit accuses Mills of breach of fiduciary duties, fraud, and unjust enrichment, claiming he retained control of all project assets, including NFT sales and mining revenue.

The investors are seeking a court-ordered constructive trust for the Hashling assets, along with damages, legal fees, costs, and other relief as determined by the court.

Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.