Three leading people involved with Arbitrade are seeking protection from alleged cyberstalking by an analyst and former supporter of the cryptocurrency exchange and coin company.

A civil lawsuit has been filed in Florida by Arbitrade founding figures Troy Hogg and James Goldberg, and chief operating officer Stephen Braverman, claiming they are the victims of cyberstalking. Stock picker and analyst Ronnie Moas and his Florida-based company Standpoint Research are named as the defendants.

In documents filed on Thursday at the Miami-Dade County Civil Court, it is claimed Mr Hogg, Mr Goldberg and Mr Braverman and their families have been threatened and stalked after Mr Moas and Standpoint Research posted on social media and communicated to third parties various private mobile numbers, private e-mail addresses, licence plate numbers and other information.

The emergency motion for injunction for protection against cyberstalking is pursuant with the section of Chapter 784 of the Florida Statutes, where cyberstalking is defined as to communicate, or cause to be communicated, “words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or electronic communications, directed at a specific person, causing substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate purpose”.

Mr Moas has authored more than 1,000 research reports and appeared in more than 100 television, newspaper, radio and magazine interviews since 2014, and been a headline speaker at conferences, according to the Standpoint Research website.

For most of 2018 he was highly positive towards Arbitrade and its “dignity” cryptotoken.

However, that changed at the end of November, a few weeks after Arbitrade announced it had “title” to $15 billion of gold bullion to back its coins and tokens.

At the end of the month Mr Moas, who has thousands of newsletter subscribers and more than 44,000 followers on Twitter, expressed concerns about the company.

Arbitrade, which in October named Victoria Hall, on Victoria Street, as its global headquarters, responded with a statement in which it rejected claims that it had misled Mr Moas.

Throughout December, Mr Moas continued to express his concerns through Twitter posts and interviews.

The court in Miami on Thursday issued a 20-day summons to the parties named in the case.

An evidentiary hearing has been scheduled for January 10, when it is expected there will be a formal examination of the charges, testimony heard and evidence received in support or in defence of the charges.

Mr Hogg, Mr Braverman and Mr Goldberg are represented by attorney Donald J. Hayden, of Mark Migdal & Hayden.

When last checked, Mr Moas and Standpoint Research did not have an attorney listed in relation to the case.