- FTX shillers have been hit with a $1 billion class action lawsuit
- The class action targets YouTube primarily, with some big names impacted
- The lawsuit accuses them of “misrepresentations and omissions”
A class action lawsuit has been filed against a group of internet influencers by a consortium of investors who had lost money through the collapse of FTX last year. The investors accuse the content creators of promoting unregistered securities to their viewers and followers while promoting the exchange, and are seeking damages totaling over $1 billion. The defendants in the case include BitBoy Crypto creator Ben Armstrong, finance YouTube creator Graham Stephan, seven other individuals, and the talent management firm Creators Agency.
Lawsuit Criticizes “Misrepresentations and Omissions”
Edwin Garrison of Oklahoma is the individual leading the charge against the FTX shills, with the plaintiffs including residents of the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. According to the lawsuit, the defendants are responsible for damages resulting from “misrepresentations and omissions regarding the FTX platform” and played a significant role in promoting the failed business.
The lawsuit adds that the massive impact of the influencers was crucial to the success of FTX, and the platform could not have achieved such heights without their promotion, with the content creators allegedly receiving undisclosed payments ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to multimillion-dollar bribes. It specifically highlights the central role that YouTube played in how influencers promoted FTX, emphasizing that the video streaming platform is more popular than network television.
In the aftermath of FTX’s collapse, several defendants in the lawsuit allegedly removed all video clips that endorsed FTX and praised its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, from their YouTube channels, replacing them with apology videos instead.
This lawsuit is the second FTX-related class action suit to be filed, following a three-way suit that was compiled into one and laid at Bankman-Fried’s door last December.
