By James Davis
On Thursday, a Georgia-based court denied Ben Armstrong, popularly known as Bitboy, an emergency injunction request. The Judge argued that the crypto YouTuber had failed to fulfill his obligations to support the suit seeking his injunction against Hit Network leaders Timothy Shedd Junior and Timothy Shedd Senior.
Following the court’s decision, Bitboy has turned to his fans, asking them to help him raise funds to mount a strong legal defense. As of Friday afternoon, his supporters had raised approximately $90,000 in BTC and ETH, according to blockchain.com data.
Bitboy filed his first lawsuit against the two leaders of Hit Network on August 31 but decided to withdraw it the following day. Ten days later, the Shedds brought their own charges against the YouTuber, prompting him to refile his lawsuit on September 13. While the court has thrown out Bitboy’s emergency injunction request, the two suits are still ongoing.
Armstrong hoped that the court would approve his injunction to force the Shedds to give him control of Hit Network, including access to financial accounts, social media, and email. In his lawsuit, the YouTuber revealed that he owned 67% of the firm, which the Shedds took away from him.
Bitboy’s Lawsuit Against the Shedds
Last week, Bitboy’s lawyer, James Merritt, accused the Hit Network leaders of violating Georgia rules by removing his client from the firm. According to Merritt, the Shedds and Bitboy were never equal partners at the firm. He also denied the allegations about his client physically assaulting Timothy Shedd Junior.
Moreover, Merrit told the court that Bitboy’s YouTube channel had lost thousands of subscribers and $1.5 million in revenue since the Shedds’ decision to remove his client from Hit Network. Data shared by Socialblade indicates that Armstrong’s YouTube channel has lost over 15,000 subscribers since its name changed to “Discover Crypto.”
The Shedds’ Lawsuit Against Bitboy
Meanwhile, Geoge Koenig, the lawyer presenting the Shedds, says the relationship between his clients and Bitboy is beyond repair and that Hit Network is looking at the possibility of a buyout. In last week’s hearing, Koenig told the court that Bitboy physically assaulted one of his clients and some of Hit Network’s employees.
In their lawsuit against Bitboy, the Shedds accused the YouTuber of transferring $50,000 monthly to a woman named Cassandra Wolfe. The two leaders alleged that Bitboy and Wolfe had an “inappropriate friendship.” However, Armstrong defended himself against the accusations, saying Wolfe was a marketing contractor who helped Hit Network secure a sponsorship deal worth $15 million with Stake.com, a crypto gambling platform. He added that the $50,000 he was sending her every month was the 5% commission they had agreed on when the deal was secured.
Bitboy said Wolfe saved many people’s jobs at Hit Network, arguing that without the Stake sponsorship deal, several employees would have been sent home.
Koenig is now requesting the court to grant his clients a restraining order against Bitboy, blocking him from accessing Hit Network’s offices. He reveals that the company has had to hire security guards as the Shedds fear for their lives.
“Bitboy’s Crypto Loans Put Hit Network Into Losses,” the Shedds
The lawsuit filed by the Shedds has continued to allege that Bitboy mishandled the firm assets. It mentions a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT that the YouTuber used to secure a personal crypto loan of about $176,000. According to the Shedds, Bitboy failed to repay the loan, causing Hit Network to lose $106,900. Moreover, the lawsuit claims that the popular YouTuber obtained six loans amounting to $119,000 using the firm’s Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT as collateral. Bitboy failed to repay again, leading to a $13,000 loss.
The YouTuber is also accused of transferring several NFTs and USDT worth $40,000 to his personal crypto wallets from the company. In response to the accusations, Bitboy said he owned the NFTs and the USDT tokens, not the company.
The YouTuber now has a new channel, “Ben Armstrong.” In mid-week, he went live with his wife, Bethany Armstrong. The couple revealed that they had filed a police report following a threatening message from an unknown person.