Have you seen the crypto lawsuit that's going viral?

Ben Armstrong, also known as "BitBoy Crypto," is a cryptocurrency influencer who, on August 12, launched a lawsuit against Erling Mengshoel Jr., also known as "Atozy." In the lawsuit, BitBoy says that Atozy's video from November 2021, titled "This Youtuber Scams His Fans Bitboy Crypto," was the cause of his injuries, including "infliction of emotional anguish" and damage to his company. BitBoy is requesting $75,000 in reparations, despite being widely criticized for unethical and reckless conduct even before Atozy's video was released.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was an exceedingly ill-advised decision, and it is blowing up in BitBoy's face in a poetic way.

The coverage of the case, virtually all of which has been persistently critical against BitBoy, has had a far greater impact than Atozy's initial video. The phenomenon that has come to be known as "the Streisand Effect," which occurs when efforts to conceal or censor information have the opposite consequence, is now having an adverse effect on BitBoy.

In this particular scenario, the piece of knowledge that BitBoy would want to keep hidden is the fact that he is not very good at his self-proclaimed "career" of appraising cryptocurrency ventures for his audience on YouTube. Atozy's first video centered on BitBoy's advocacy of Pamp Network, the cryptocurrency of which, PAMP, was meant to "only go up in price." However, shortly after BitBoy's endorsement, PAMP's price plunged to zero for whatever reason. ZachXBT, a crypto investigator, discovered in January that a significant number of BitBoy's sponsored projects had already lost a significant amount of value even before the current bear market dip, which very possibly cost his viewers significant sums of money.

However, this is not only due to the fact that BitBoy is terrible at selecting cryptocurrencies. He is also extremely immoral and very probably a criminal in the purest sense of the word. In January, ZachXBT claimed that many of BitBoy's films were not objective assessments of tokens but rather secret marketing paid for by the producers of the tokens themselves. ZachXBT also said that BitBoy did not disclose this fact. In the United States, "touting" of this kind is seen as a type of financial fraud, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has repeatedly prosecuted violators of securities law in this regard. (Since then, BitBoy has said that he now discloses any and all paid promotions.)

Therefore, it is much more satisfying to witness BitBoy's tiny tantrum blow up in his face like an Acme bomb.

The lawsuit has brought the claims against BitBoy into the mainstream, rather than putting an end to them or preventing others from making them. Most significantly, assaults against BitBoy are now propagating further and faster over YouTube than before the lawsuit. The original video that Atozy uploaded in November 2021 has just over 180,000 views as at the time of this writing, which is a decent reach but not a particularly large one. However, on day four, the case was covered by Cr1TiKaL, also known as Charles White Jr., a YouTuber with 11.2 million followers and no more compassion than a seasoned killer.

When asked about BitBoy, CrITiKaL said, "I'm not here to make any claims." "I'm just going to make fun of him while I'm here."

Already having more than one million views, this video has around seven times as many as Atozy's. And this is only one response among many. It is very evident that BitBoy's own lawsuit is transforming him from a person that is mocked inside the cryptocurrency field into a punching bag for the general public.

In his response, Cr1TiKaL aptly summarizes the situation as follows: "Every once in a while some pitiful, stinking worm believes it's a good idea to try to strong-arm a YouTuber they don't like legally... Because nothing ever goes in their favor, I can't help but find it hilarious every time... The legal action taken by BitBoy has caused a great deal more trouble than anything Atozy could have ever caused. It is the same as hanging yourself in public if you vent your anger by bringing a baseless lawsuit on the internet. It will do irreparable harm to your reputation.

Since then, Atozy has made a public appeal for financial support in order to pay for BitBoy's legal representation... This has already brought in an enormous amount of money well above what BitBoy requested in his first lawsuit. At the time of this writing, Atozy has brought up the following:

• More than fifty thousand dollars with the use of GoFundMe.

• Bitcoins worth around $1,800 USD (BTC)

• $18,000 worth of contributions made in ether (ETH).

• Over ten thousand dollars in tether (USDT)

• More than $105,000 in USDC was contributed, most of which came from the cryptocurrency industry analyst @Cobie.

The final tally was more than 184,000 dollars. You are correct if you think that is a lot to spend on defense against a frivolous case that is a nuisance and costs $75,000. However, please do not hesitate to provide more: Atozy has indicated that he would contribute any surplus to Coin Center, a cryptocurrency policy organization with a stellar reputation.

More significantly, each dollar you provide will add to the burden that BitBoy is forced to carry with him. And he does not deserve it.

That's all for today, see ya tomorrow! If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@croxroadnews)

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.