Crypto YouTuber ‘BitBoy’ Drops Defamation Suit After Public Outcry

YouTuber Atozy raised more than $200,000 to support his fight — more than what BitBoy Crypto requested in damages

article-image

Ben Armstrong; Source: Hit Network, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

share

key takeaways

  • Ben ‘BitBoy’ Armstrong had alleged he sustained losses of more than $75,000 after fellow YouTuber ‘atozy’ released a critical video
  • Atozy raised about $200,000 from the crypto community to support his legal defense

Ben Armstrong — the YouTuber who goes by the name “BitBoy Crypto” — recently sued fellow influencer Erling ‘Atozy’ Mengshoel in a defamation lawsuit. 

He’s now apologized that the suit caught public attention, and is dumping the case.

“We are going to drop the lawsuit, 100%,” he said during his regular livestream on Wednesday. “I’m sorry this became public.”

Armstrong wanted the matter to be private, disclosing that a previous confidential lawsuit was settled to his preference. “I’ve had another lawsuit. It was behind closed doors, and it worked out great. Both parties were happy, and it was settled,” he said, without providing further details. 

The YouTuber then expressed he hadn’t anticipated the public would find out about the lawsuit, as his “name is now so big.” If he did, he wouldn’t have filed it, he said (all lawsuits are public record).

Loading Tweet..
Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz has been vocal about the lawsuit on Twitter.

His lawsuit filed August 12 was based on a November 2021 video, in which Atozy describes BitBoy Crypto as “a shady dirtbag who milks his audience for a quick buck rather than giving them genuine advice.” Atozy also slams the YouTuber for hyping a flop token called Pamp and argues he shouldn’t be offering financial advice.

Armstrong alleged he sustained losses over $75,000, and so his claim sought general, compensatory and special damages for defamation. The claim will be walked back now that the case is being dropped.

“Atozy, you’re the winner here. He’s the winner. I’m the loser,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Armstrong planned unsuccessful legal action. After Celsius’ bankruptcy in June, he intended to launch a class-action lawsuit against the lender over its platform-wide withdrawal freeze. Realizing that he once promoted Celsius’ business via his BitBoy Crypto YouTube channel, he dropped the plan.

Armstrong’s lawyers from Krevolin & Horst didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.

Atozy thanks crypto community for rallying defense against BitBoy

Atozy uploaded a video titled “I got sued” on Wednesday, in which he defended his comments against BitBoy Crypto. “When the largest crypto channel on YouTube promotes something that turned out to be a scam, that’s something worth covering,” he said.

He intended to fight the case. But because he didn’t have the money for it, he linked a GoFundMe page to help defend himself against Armstrong’s “frivolous lawsuit.” 

As of Thursday, Atozy had received 610 donations worth $53,407 through the campaign. Additionally, seasoned crypto podcaster Cobie donated USDC worth $100,000.

Loading Tweet..

After Armstrong said the lawsuit would be scrapped, Atozy confirmed he raised about $200,000 in total. He said he would refund donors once it was officially confirmed that the suit would be pulled. 

“Thank you guys for saving me,” Atozy said.

Still, Atozy appears skeptical, tweeting late Wednesday: “If [Armstrong] has really directed his lawyer to dismiss the lawsuit against me he should prove that it’s happened by posting a copy of the dismissal WITH PREJUDICE of all claims against me.”

“I’m told by my lawyer that if it is not with prejudice he can refile at any time,” he said.

Updated with additional tweets from Atozy.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

kamino cover.jpg

Research

Kamino has solidified its position as the leading money market on Solana and is emerging as a DeFi bluechip. Although DeFi competition is fierce, Kamino has kept iterating on its product to provide the best-in-class UX, paired with a robust risk management framework and battle-tested infrastructure. Given the rollout of Kamino Lend V2, the protocol may scale aggressively over the coming months, penetrating previously untapped markets in Solana DeFi.

article-image

Also in the tokenized fund space, Franklin Templeton launches on Base and Securitize hits $1 billion in tokenized RWA onchain

article-image

It turns out that bitcoin never actually hit an all-time high in March. Thanks a lot, inflation.

article-image

Spire, Citrea and Nillion also announced raises this week

article-image

The latest recipient of an SEC Wells notice is a Web3 gaming company

article-image

Thursday’s selloff was led by tech stocks, triggered by disappointing outlooks from giants Meta and Microsoft

article-image

Historically, positive returns have been a bit more of a toss-up during the year’s 11th month