Edwin Garrison received the green light from a federal court in Florida this week to serve Tom Nash, a crypto influencer, with a complaint via Twitter in a lawsuit filed against him and several other influencers following the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange in late 2022.
Nash, along with several other influencers, is accused of promoting FTX in exchange for undisclosed payments ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to multi-million dollar bribes. The court granted Garrison’s motion to serve Nash through alternative means, including e-mail, social media, and posting on a designated website, as these are reasonably calculated to give notice to the defendant.
Garrison filed the lawsuit against FTX and its affiliates in December 2022, seeking to recover damages for the collapse of the exchange. The complaint alleges that FTX and its affiliates engaged in a range of misconduct, including insider trading, market manipulation, and breach of contract. It also accuses Nash and other influencers of acting as “unregistered securities salespeople” by promoting FTX without disclosing their financial incentives.
The Increasing Use of Social Media in Legal Proceedings
The decision to serve Nash via Twitter is a notable development in the case, as it reflects the increasing use of social media in legal proceedings. In recent years, courts have become more willing to allow the service of process through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This is due in part to the difficulty of locating defendants who are active on social media but may be difficult to locate through traditional means.
The use of social media to serve legal process has its critics, however, who argue that it is not a reliable or secure method of communication. Some have raised concerns about the potential for false or fraudulent service, as well as the risk of hacking or other security breaches. Nevertheless, the use of social media in legal proceedings is likely to become increasingly common as more people rely on these platforms for communication and networking.
In Nash’s case, the FTX lawsuit, the use of Twitter to serve the complaint is just one of many developments in a complex and ongoing legal battle. The crypto industry will closely watch the outcome of the case, as it could have significant implications for the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges and the use of social media influencers in marketing and promotion.
