After Failed Bid to Reclaim Namesake Company, Ben ‘Bitboy’ Armstrong Asks Fans for Cash

Ben “Bitboy” Armstrong, former host of the Bitboy Crypto YouTube channel, has been denied an emergency injunction request filed to the Cobb County Superior Courtroom in Georgia as part of his ongoing lawsuit towards Hit Community CEO TJ Shedd and Shedd’s father, new paperwork filed this week revealed.

The Cobb County Clerk’s workplace advised Decrypt {that a} new submitting within the case exhibits the order as “denied,” with paperwork studying that “Plaintiffs failed to fulfill their burden” to help the case for Armstrong’s injunction towards the Shedds, who’re each Hit Community staff. Timothy Shedd Sr. is the CFO at Hit Community.

Armstrong, the distinguished crypto persona who beforehand drove a Lamborghini and wore Gucci-branded tracksuits, is now elevating funds for his authorized protection. Followers have already donated roughly $60,000 price of Ethereum and Bitcoin in lower than 24 hours, in line with Etherscan and blockchain knowledge for 2 of Armstrong’s crypto wallets.

Armstrong had initially filed the go well with towards the Shedds on August 30, however withdrew it at some point later. The Shedds then filed their very own go well with towards Armstrong final week on September 11. Armstrong refiled his go well with towards the Shedds on September 12, and a listening to on the Cobb County Superior Courtroom happened on September 14. Whereas Armstrong has not been granted non permanent aid, the lawsuits are ongoing.

Armstrong’s criticism towards the Shedds sought an injunction that may drive them to return management of the corporate, together with entry to its electronic mail, social media, and monetary accounts. A number of authorized filings state that Armstrong owns 67% of the corporate he has been faraway from. 

Within the courtroom listening to final week, Armstrong’s legal professional James Merritt alleged that the Shedds “violated Georgia regulation” by eradicating Armstrong from the corporate, arguing that the scenario was akin to the “worker stealing the corporate from the boss.”

Merritt argued that Armstrong and Shedd have “by no means been equal companions” on the firm, and wrote off the allegations that Armstrong had bodily assaulted Shedd as “water cooler rumors” that had been getting used to “muddy the waters” within the case. 

Merritt additionally claimed that since Armstrong’s elimination, the corporate has “misplaced over $1 million” in income in addition to “tens of hundreds of subscribers.”

In keeping with SocialBlade knowledge, Armstrong’s former Bitboy YouTube channel—which has since been rebranded to “Uncover Crypto”—has misplaced roughly 20,000 subscribers up to now month. Particularly, the channel misplaced 10,000 subscribers on August 30, the day of Armstrong’s first criticism, and once more on September 12, the day the Shedds filed their criticism.

The Shedds’ legal professional, George Koenig, introduced on the listening to that the corporate is “in divorce mode” and is on the lookout for a buyout.

“It’s past restore,” Koenig stated of the connection between Armstrong and the Shedds, alleging that Armstrong did commit bodily assault and in addition “feigned bizarre sexual issues with folks.”

The Shedds’ criticism filed towards Armstrong alleges that Armstrong was “bodily attacking” staff on the Hit Community places of work by “groping, grabbing, punching, pulling, thrusting, tackling, inserting fingers on, bending over, [and] throwing stuffed bottles of protein shake at” staff, and committing different acts that had been “lewd,” “obscene,” and “humiliating.”

Armstrong has beforehand denied the allegations of bodily assault towards Shedd. Armstrong advised Decrypt that the remainder of the bodily allegations had been “made up” in an effort to assault his character.

The Shedds’ submitting alleges that Armstrong despatched various sums of cash “as massive as $50,000 per 30 days” for non-business functions to an impartial contractor employed by the media firm “with whom Armstrong was having an inappropriate relationship.”

However Armstrong advised Decrypt in a message that such funds had been really despatched to advertising contractor Cassandra Wolfe as a part of her 5% fee for securing the corporate’s $15 million sponsorship cope with crypto playing agency Stake.

“They wished a witch hunt towards her as a result of she saved everybody’s jobs,” Armstrong advised Decrypt. “With out the Stake deal, most individuals on the firm had been heading towards getting laid off.”

Koenig stated on the listening to that Hit Community has employed a full-time safety guard to observe its workplace constructing, and that the Shedds have requested an ex parte non permanent restraining order towards Armstrong. Merritt additionally requested an ex parte non permanent restraining order towards the Shedds on behalf of Armstrong.

In keeping with an Acworth Police Division report obtained by Decrypt, Shedd advised the police on August 21 he was “involved for his security” as he deliberate to take away Armstrong from the corporate due to “misuse and probably felony use of firm funds.”

Shedd additionally advised police that Armstrong “created a hostile work atmosphere” and reiterated the assault allegation, explaining that it occurred after it was revealed that Armstrong dedicated adultery, in line with the report.

The Acworth Police advised Shedd that it will add the Hit Community places of work to its space of “zone patrol” for just a few weeks. The Shedds’ injunction request for a restraining order has not but been heard by a decide, a Hit Community worker conversant in the matter confirmed to Decrypt. 

The worker additionally stated that Hit Community bought the Lamborghini as a enterprise asset and is now seeking to promote it to “recoup funds” that Armstrong allegedly “stole” from the corporate.

The Shedds’ authorized submitting alleges that Armstrong dedicated “theft and/or mishandling of firm belongings,” citing an instance of a Bored Ape Yacht Membership NFT that Armstrong reportedly used to acquire “private loans of cryptocurrency” price $176,698.10. When a mortgage was not repaid, the corporate misplaced the NFT—which was valued round $107,000 on the time, in line with the submitting.

The submitting additionally alleges that Armstrong took seven loans totaling $119,415.08 on a Mutant Ape Yacht Membership NFT, in the end ensuing within the lack of the NFT which was price roughly $13,000 on the time. 

Armstrong additionally allegedly transferred “different NFTs” from the corporate’s crypto wallets to his personal private wallets, and transferred over $40,000 price of USDT stablecoin from firm wallets to considered one of his private crypto wallets after which to a pockets held by Stake, in line with the Shedds’ lawsuit towards Armstrong. 

In response to those claims, Armstrong advised Decrypt that the NFTs in query belonged to him and that the corporate’s staff had been conscious of that.

“They stated a number of instances they had been mine as a result of the corporate was mine,” Armstrong advised Decrypt in a message. “These had been all conversations that happened. However they had been by no means documented.” He added that nobody on the firm ever raised issues with him concerning the NFT loans, and nobody advised him he wasn’t allowed to take out loans on the belongings.

Armstrong additionally claimed to Decrypt that the USDT funds in query “had been despatched proper to the corporate.”

“They do not know the place it’s as a result of they do not know what they’re doing with the books. That is the results of a minority enterprise companion hiring his personal father to be the CFO, though he has no monetary background or expertise,” Armstrong stated, alleging that Shedd Sr. was the explanation the corporate misplaced $3 million on the now-defunct Celsius platform.

In a Wednesday livestream on his new YouTube channel, Armstrong stated that he has filed a police report because of a threatening textual content message he allegedly obtained. Decrypt has made contact with the suitable authorities in an effort to acquire a duplicate of the report.

“There may be fixed lies and betrayal occurring,” Armstrong stated.

Armstrong’s spouse, Bethany Armstrong, additionally appeared on the Wednesday livestream and expressed that she is anxious for her household’s security, calling the expertise “horrific.”