A federal magistrate judge has signed an order requiring BitBoy Crypto YouTuber Ben Armstrong to appear in Florida as part of a state meeting related to a lawsuit involving several crypto influencers.
In a filing dated April 12 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Judge Melissa Damian ordered Armstrong and his attorneys to appear in court on April 20, along with a legal team representing the influencer. The meeting was intended to raise awareness of "Armstrong's harassment of plaintiffs' attorneys," according to the order. Armstrong and several other YouTubers were named in a $1 billion lawsuit filed on March 15 for allegedly promoting "FTX crypto fraud without disclosing compensation." Adam Moskowitz, who is representing plaintiff Edwin Garrison and others in the class-action lawsuit, alleges that Armstrong responded through "endless phone calls, tweets and emails," voicemails "full of vulgarity," and social media posts that suggested threats. Harassment of the legal team.
A document dated April 5 revealed the reasons for the hearing with Armstrong, detailing the YouTuber's "daily threats of violence" and responses to threatening and insulting emails before receiving process documents. The legal team also reported in a March 20 filing that one of Armstrong's voicemails included a YouTuber who allegedly threatened to have protesters surround Moskowitz's home "24/7."
"The scope of the attack (including death threats), examples of which are provided in these documents, and have continued daily since, required signing attorneys for the FBI's investigation into Armstrong, as well as investigations by local police authorities for the plaintiff's attorneys and family," Moskowitz said. Armstrong’s Twitter post claimed that the original lawsuit over the disclosure of FTX’s compensation was “completely unfounded.” The cryptocurrency influencer is no stranger to online controversy, routinely insulting high-profile figures including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and generally dismissive of class-action lawsuits. In August 2022, Armstrong filed a defamation lawsuit against YouTuber Erling Mengshoel Jr., aka Atozy, in response to a video Mengshoel posted claiming that “this YouTuber scammed his fans Bitboy Crypto.” After raising more than $200,000 for his defense within hours, Armstrong dropped the lawsuit.
