Several YouTubers involved in billion-dollar lawsuit after promoting FTX
TSMSeveral finance YouTubers, such as Graham Stephan, Meet Kevin, and Andrei Jikh, are among those involved in a billion-dollar lawsuit for promoting FTX before its collapse.
During its existence, FTX was the sponsor of many organizations, sporting teams, leagues, and personalities online. From TSM, the Mercedes F1 team, the LCS, and even Tom Brady, many were paid to advertise the cryptocurrency exchange. But when the company fell into bankruptcy in 2022, many of its sponsors came under fire. And dozens of YouTubers too were part of FTX’s marketing strategy.
On March 15, it was revealed several of the YouTubers who were paid to promote FTX are currently involved in a class action lawsuit, which is claiming $1 billion in damages. The agency which represents them, Creators Agency, is also listed as a defendant.
Here is the full list of YouTubers involved in the lawsuit:
- Kevin “Meet Kevin” Paffrath
- Graham Stephan
- Andrei Jikh
- Brian Jung
- Jeremy “Financial Education” Lefebvre
- Tom Nash
- Ben “BitBoy Crypto” Armstrong
- Erika Kullberg
So far, the only influencer who has commented on the lawsuit is Meet Kevin, in a statement to Coffeeezilla. He said of the lawsuit, “I’d be happy to work with them as a charity, but let’s be clear that’s what it is.”
He continued, “I don’t think any influencer has to take responsibility for what somebody does with product advice. That responsibility should only arise if somebody actually hires somebody, like retaining an attorney or hiring a doctor, for their own personal situation.”
He ended off his statement, “it’s a lesson to the whole community, we’ve got to be more careful of sponsors and the viewers have to be diligent about their own decisions.”
The lawsuit, as Legal Eagle points out, is essentially similar to the class action lawsuit which was brought against Sam Bandman-Fried, Tom Brady, and Larry David. With the same lawyers, plaintiffs, and claims, with only the defendants differing in this circumstance.
As of writing, the class action complaint has just been brought in and a demand for a Jury Trial has been called. There are no dates for when the court trial will begin.