YouTuber Erling “Atozy” Mengshoel was sued by Ben “Bitboy” Armstrong, owner of one of the largest crypto channels on this platform with over 1.4 million subscribers. Armstrong is looking for reparations north of $75,000 for this lawsuit accusing Atozy of defamation, reputational damages, and emotional distress.
Atozy explained his point on his channel claiming that the entire lawsuit is based on a video that he uploaded called “This Youtuber Scams His Fans… BitBoy Crypto”. Uploaded in November 2021, Atozy claims it is an opinion based “on public information”.
The video questions Bitboy’s crypto promotions, as they allegedly led people into buying tokens or cryptocurrencies and suffered losses when the assets depreciate. In addition, the video accuses Bitboy of plagiarizing YouTuber Vince Ferraiuolo.
In December 2021, Bitboy sent Atozy a cease and desist letter, a document used to order an individual or company to stop them from doing a specific activity. At the time, the YouTuber began noticing other videos addressing Bitboy were being removed from the platform. Except for his own.
8 months later he was served with a defamation lawsuit. Armstrong claims that Atozy attempted to “gain notoriety” by allegedly launching “personal attacks” against him and accusing him of promoting scams and calling him a “dirtbag”.
These attacks have caused Armstrong “severe anxiety of being perceived as a felon”, “severe emotional distress”, “recurrent depression”, and a fear of being hurt financially and reputationally, according to the document filed with a court in the state of Georgia.
The lawsuit claims that Armstrong is currently in a “fragile emotional state”. Atozy said:
I think it’s insane that I’m being sued for expressing my own opinions. I thought I lived in America. Imagine how thin skin you have to be to do this, and for what I’ve heard, this isn’t even the first time he has filed a lawsuit like this. I’m going to be standing up for myself.
Atozy Asked For Help From The Crypto Community
The legal expenses for themselves himself in court could amount to as much as $500,000, Atozy said. In the video and across his social media platforms, the YouTuber reached out to the crypto community to raise the funds to hire legal representation.
The crypto YouTuber launched a campaign on GoFundMe and provided a Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) addresses to receive donations. In total, Atozy’s campaign has collected $26,000 on GoFundMe from almost 500 donations.
In Bitcoin, Atozy received 0.08 BTC and over $100,000 with stablecoin USDC in crypto donations. The largest donor is influencer Cobi that sympathized with Atozy’s cause. The YouTuber clarified:
I’m crowdfunding to help cover the insane costs of defending myself against this frivolous lawsuit. All funds raised will be used to pay legal fees. If there is anything left over I will donate them to various charities as I have no interest in profiting from my community.
ill send 100k or somethin later when at pc
— Cobie (@cobie) August 23, 2022
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