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Crypto Courtroom Drama: Kevin O’Leary Wins Nearly $3M Against YouTuber ‘Bitboy’

Businessman and TV character Kevin O’Leary, often known as “Mr. Wonderful” from Shark Tank, has received a $2.8 million judgment after a US federal court docket entered default towards well-liked YouTuber Ben “BitBoy” Armstrong.

The ruling comes after Armstrong failed to answer a defamation lawsuit associated to false claims he made on social media, which accused O’Leary of involvement in a 2019 boating accident that resulted in fatalities.

Those claims had been by no means confirmed in court docket, and reporters have famous the authorized motion centered on restoring status and looking for damages for hurt attributable to the statements.

Court Enters Default Judgment

The court docket award totals roughly $2.8 million in mixed damages. That determine breaks down into about $78,000 for reputational harm, $750,000 for emotional misery, and $2,000,000 in punitive damages meant to punish the conduct.

Judge Beth Bloom presided over the matter within the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which dealt with filings and issued the judgment. The ruling got here after procedural steps that enable a plaintiff to acquire judgment when a defendant fails to reply.

Allegations And Timeline

Reports say the posts on the heart of the case appeared in March of final yr. They accused the businessman of being linked to deadly conduct and alleged a cover-up. O’Leary has by no means been charged in relation to that incident, and later court docket data confirmed associated events had been cleared at trial.

The defamation swimsuit alleged the statements crossed the road from opinion into false factual claims that broken status and brought about misery. Because Armstrong didn’t seem or meaningfully reply the criticism, the court docket handled the claims as conceded for functions of ultimate judgment.

Crypto Connection And Implications

Armstrong is a well known character on the planet of cryptocurrency, working the favored website BitBoy Crypto. His messages attain hundreds of cryptocurrency followers and traders, which helped to unfold the false claims.

Although the case itself shouldn’t be associated to cryptocurrency, it exhibits the authorized hazard that cryptocurrency influencers might face when posting unverified or defamatory data on-line. This choice might make different personalities within the cryptocurrency world extra cautious about what they publish on-line.

Featured picture from Getty Images, chart from TradingView

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