Ben Armstrong, the man behind Bitboy Crypto, has said he is dropping the defamation lawsuit against fellow YouTube content creator Erling Mengshoel Jr., who goes by Atozy.
Armstrong officially filed the lawsuit against Mengshoel on August 12 in response to a 2021 video titled “This YouTuber Scams His Fans…Bitboy Crypto,” which alleged that Armstrong was dishonestly promoting dubious assets to his audience, such as PAMP, for your own benefit. He was asking for USD 75,000 in damages for this experience.
Nevertheless, Armstrong suggested in a livestream on Wednesday that he will withdraw the complaint after Mengshoel managed to raise more than $200,000 for his defense.
The cryptocurrency YouTuber noted that he initially filed the lawsuit with the goal of having the video removed by Mengshoel and suggested that he did not want to pursue the legal process further.
Nevertheless, Armstrong explained that Atozy now has enough to cover legal costs, and as prominent crypto traders/podcasts like Cobie (Jordan Fish) have donated $100,000 to the cause, the dispute has gone further than initially intended.
“So we’re going to drop the lawsuit, 100% and I’m sorry this was made public, I’m sorry it was misunderstood, but I just want you guys to understand why I was doing this. This was not a lawsuit for horseplay.”
“When someone hints that you might be in trouble with the SEC, that’s not frivolous, guys, it’s a very serious matter. So from my point of view, trying to defend my reputation, trying to get me to take down the video that contains literally misinformation, that was all I wanted.”
At the time of this writing, Atozy’s video is still online and has almost 190,000 views. On the Bitboy livestream, Armstrong pleaded with Mengshoel to at least edit out the parts of the video that had bothered him. Ultimately, though, Armstrong noted that Atozy “has won.”
From what I’ve heard Bitboy will be pulling the lawsuit.
I’m blown away from the support.
In less than 24 hours we raised roughly $200,000 USDOnce I have the confirmation it’s officially pulled. I will be refunding everyone who donated.
Thank you guys for saving me.
— atozy (@atozy) August 24, 2022
From what I’ve heard, Bitboy is dropping the lawsuit. I am impressed by the support. In less than 24 hours we have raised about USD 200,000. Once I have confirmation that it’s officially retired, I’m going to refund everyone who donated. Thanks, guys, for saving me.
commenting on the matter, Atozy says that everything is yet to be resolved, as he is still awaiting official confirmation from his lawyer that the complaint has been dismissed with “prejudice”.
“I have been told by my lawyer that if it is not with prejudice you can resubmit at any time,” he wrote, and added that once the official confirmation arrives, he will return all the money to all those who donated to the cause.
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