Crypto influencer allegedly threatened attorney behind FTX class action suit
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A cryptocurrency influencer who is a defendant in a class action lawsuit targeting promoters of failed crypto exchange FTX is facing new legal scrutiny after allegedly sending threatening messages to the attorneys leading the lawsuit.
Ben Armstrong – known as "BitBoy Crypto" – is one of several influencers who have been named defendants in a class action lawsuit over their promotion of FTX accounts to their YouTube and social media followers. For example, Armstrong’s BitBoy Crypto channel on YouTube has 1.45 million subscribers. Plaintiffs allege the influencers didn’t disclose that they were paid to endorse or sponsor FTX or conduct adequate due diligence.
The lawyers leading the class action suit said in documents filed with the court on Monday that after the lawsuit was filed last week, Armstrong has been harassing one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys with "endless phone calls, Tweets and emails to him privately, and publicly by posting insulting and threatening posts" on social media and that his "behavior has been quickly escalating."
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Cryptocurrency influencer Ben "BitBoy Crypto" Armstrong allegedly sent threatening messages to the attorneys leading the class action lawsuit he and other crypto advocates were named as defendants in. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Armstrong allegedly made 21 calls to the attorney’s office within a 45-minute period from an anonymous number and left a voicemail warning Adam Moskowitz, one of the attorneys leading the class action lawsuit, that "we’re going to have First Amendment protesters around your house 24/7 day and night."
In a separate voicemail, he claimed that the "home addresses" of the "lawyers" are "being circulated on Reddit."
According to the filing, Armstrong also sent profanity-laced emails to Moskowitz in addition to a message warning the attorney he was "choosing war with an anonymous community while you yourself are not."
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Ben "BitBoy Crypto" Armstrong is one of the crypto influencers facing a class action lawsuit over their promotion of failed crypto exchange FTX. ( Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The message continued, "Only a couple bitcoins get you and your family shot. Please be careful. These people are dangerous and you have provoked them" – which prompted Moskowitz to report Armstrong’s behavior to the judge overseeing the class action lawsuit.
After the lawsuit was filed last week, Armstrong sent a series of tweets about Moskowitz that were included in the court filings. Some of the tweets were profane, and one acknowledged "lawyers chiming in saying I better be careful… LMAO you have to be kidding."
"There is only one person who better be careful and it’s Adam Moskowitz," Armstrong’s tweet continued. "I’ve already told him privately. YOU DO NOT GET TO MAKE LIES UP. You will be held accountable."
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Armstrong added in another tweet, "Countersuit coming. The lawyers on this case can’t possibly be more stupid. I’ve never had contact with anyone at FTX and never even had a reflink. Show me you are dumb without telling me you are dumb. I’m going to roast these Low IQ plebs and their lawyers".
On Monday, Armstrong took to Twitter to respond to the legal filing alleging he harassed and threatened Moskowitz:
Moskowitz's law firm is involved with a separate class action lawsuit involving FTX promoters, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Shaquille O'Neal, Steph Curry, and other sports stars and celebrities.