BitBoy Crypto Ben Armstrong Ordered to Pay Kevin O’Leary $2.8M in Defamation Case
Kevin O’Leary has secured a $2.8 million defamation judgment against cryptocurrency content creator Ben Armstrong, known online as BitBoy Crypto. The ruling was handed down by a Miami federal court after Armstrong failed to respond to the lawsuit.
The case stemmed from Armstrong's March 2025 social media posts falsely accusing O’Leary of involvement in a fatal 2019 boating accident. Court documents show O’Leary was merely a passenger in the incident. The posts, which included O’Leary's personal phone number, garnered 156,000 views and necessitated $200,000 in additional annual security expenditures.
Judge Beth Bloom awarded O’Leary $750,000 for emotional distress, $78,000 for reputational harm, and $2 million in punitive damages. Armstrong's absence from court proceedings and subsequent attempts to overturn the default judgment—citing mental health concerns—were rejected by the court.
