During the initial days of cryptocurrency, this new realm was viewed as the ‘Wild West’ market of the new era, with its volatile prices and unpredictable market sentiment. Another reason why it was called the ‘Wild West Market’ was because there were individuals who earned a lot of profits and some who made devastating losses.
Influencers, one of the Wild West players in the crypto market, decided to take advantage of this new industry in the hopes of gaining new viewership. One such crypto influencer is Ben Armstrong, often referred to as Bitboy Crypto, who took to YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), sharing his analysis on Bitcoin and altcoin charts and speculating on the upcoming prices for the coming weeks.
Ben Armstrong was also one of the influencers who was able to grow along with the crypto market. However, currently, Ben Armstrong, AKA Bitboy Crypto, has faced a massive downfall and has caught the attention of several mainstream media and community members.
He is known for allegedly promoting several altcoins for his own benefit. Additionally, there are claims that he was directly or indirectly responsible for scams, including rug-pull schemes. Could this be the reason why Armstrong was removed from the BH Investment Holdings company?
This feature focuses on Ben Armstrong’s journey—from his rise to his fall. Or a possible recovery?
Table of contents
Who is Ben Armstrong, AKA Bitboy Crypto?
Well-known in the crypto universe, Ben Armstrong is an American crypto influencer who gained fame through his ‘Bitboy Crypto’ YouTube channel. Throughout his career journey, he has become the Executive Director of Three Dimensional Life, the co-host of ‘Beards & Bitcoin,’ the owner of Front Page Tickets, and the owner of Ben Armstrong Designs.
He started his adventures with Bitboy Crypto, High Throughput Productions, and HIT Network in 2018 as the founder.
Almost daily, the popular crypto influencer, along with his team, would produce content on crypto prices, the overall market sentiment, analysis of the various assets, news articles, and conduct interviews with expert leaders through the YouTube channel.
Armstrong was able to garner the attention of several crypto enthusiasts, enabling his ‘Bitboy Crypto’ channel to get over 1 million followers on social media platforms such as YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).
After leaving HIT Network and Bitboy Crypto, the crypto influencer started a new channel called Ben Armstrong Crypto, which has over 92K followers.
How Rich Was Bitboy Crypto?
One of Ben Armstrong’s wealth-making schemes was through his content creation activities on his famed ‘Bitboy Crypto’ channel. Before that, reports were claiming that the influencer became rich through his cryptocurrency investments. Reportedly, Armstrong invested in BTC 2012 when it was less than $20, making him generate significant profits compared to the current market price.
Armstrong would often show off his wealth through his silver-colored Lamborghini Huracan Performante, a common sign of highly profitable success in the early crypto days. Apart from the Lamborghini, Armstrong would often be seen wearing Gucci T-shirts, especially the infamous Gucci-branded green pantsuit.
Although there were signs that Armstrong was rich, it was hard to determine the actual wealth of Bitboy Crypto for two reasons—he never shared his actual worth with the public, and the crypto market was very volatile, making it difficult to estimate the value of his digital asset portfolio.
However, DataWallet, a media outlet, analyzed and revealed that Armstrong’s gross net worth would be around $10 million in 2022. Again, this figure was not accurate, as several other organizations claimed Armstrong was worth more than $10 million.
The crypto influencer, during his growth stage, offered merchandise as well as exclusive content for his fans if they paid him more money. Partnerships and affiliation programs would also help him generate more income.
Another source of revenue would be through his book “Catching Up to Crypto: Your Guide to Bitcoin and the New Digital Economy,” which was sold and promoted through different platforms. Considering all the data, it is safe to assume that Bitboy Crypto could have crossed the $10 million net worth mark in the past.
A user from the Reddit community called ‘Crypto Reality’ leaked the media kit of crypto influencers, which showed several charges for the services they provided. According to the graph sheet, Bitboy Crypto was charging $40,000 for one full, dedicated review. In the notes section, it has been pointed out that projects can choose a segment video for $15,000.
However, after looking at Bitboy Crypto’s dedicated media kit, Armstrong was apparently charging $35,000 for a dedicated review. Meanwhile, for the livestream mention and a YouTube interview, he was charging $20,000 and $40,000, respectively. For the Telegram AMA in Bitsquad, Armstrong would charge $10,000. Finally, it costs $2,500 to publish a website article with Bitboy Crypto.
Despite earning a lot of profits and living a luxurious lifestyle, Armstrong, however, faced a sudden downfall, losing his Lambo, reputation, and, of course, money. It seems that Armstrong must have dug a deep hole through his alleged scams and rug-pull schemes. It is time to take a look at some of the projects supported by Ben Armstrong, AKA Bitboy Crypto.
What Crypto Projects Were Promoted By Ben Armstrong?
Like many influencers in the crypto arena, many projects promoted by Ben Armstrong caused devastating losses for their customers. Several of these projects, shilled by Armstrong, also caught the attention of mainstream media outlets and legal representatives due to the devastating damage they caused. As such, this could also be considered one of the reasons behind Armstrong’s downfall, which will be explained in detail in this feature.
DistX
Let’s start with DistX. According to Armstrong, DISTX is a “crypto project with HUGE potential.” DISTX was a platform that made it harder to defraud investors while making it easier for projects to launch their token sales. DISTX was supposed to make “space safer.” However, this project caused devastating losses for its investors, dropping to almost 90%.
It was reported that the CEO of DistX, Adrian Daluz, announced that the project was going to be “abandoned,” claiming the token price was not good enough. Through an investigation conducted by ‘LITELIGER,’ it was further revealed that the project failed to deliver its promises as shown in its roadmap. After the CEO’s announcement, the project’s token suffered a drastic fall. Additionally, investors were not able to sell their tokens, leaving them to suffer a heavy loss.
Hex
Another project that Armstrong promoted and later faced scrutiny was Hex. Even in a recent YouTube video, the ex-Bitboy Crypto still exclaimed, “Hex is not a scam.” Despite Armstrong claiming the project is not a scam, some crypto community members have pointed out that Hex looks like a Ponzi scheme.
Additionally, on the last day of July 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Richard Heart and three unincorporated entities owned by him: Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX, for conducting unregistered offerings of crypto asset securities that raised more than $1 billion in crypto assets from investors.
Based on the press release, the SEC also charged Heart and PulseChain with fraud for misappropriating at least $12 million of offering proceeds to purchase luxury goods including sports cars, watches, and a 555-carat black diamond known as ‘The Enigma’—reportedly the largest black diamond in the world.
Currently, HEX is still below the $0.01 price level; however, the Hex community still shows support for the project on social media platforms. The support of the Hex community could be a sign that they still believe in Richard Heart and his project, despite the scrutiny
SafeMoon
Reportedly, SafeMoon was one of the projects that initially promoted Ben Armstrong during his days as Bitboy Crypto. However, in November 2023, the SEC, announcing through a press release, charged SafeMoon LLC, its creator Kyle Nagy, SafeMoon US LLC, and the companies’ Chief Executive Officer, John Karony, and Chief Technology Officer, Thomas Smith, for perpetrating a massive fraudulent scheme through the unregistered sale of the crypto asset security.
The SEC also further pointed out that the creators allegedly wiped out billions in market capital, withdrew crypto assets worth more than $200 million, and “misappropriated investor funds for personal use.” Online sleuths like Coffeezilla investigated that SafeMoon was a “massive fraud” with the focus of benefiting the creators, even though the team claimed that there was no chance for rug-pulling.
BEN Coin
Even though Armstrong had claimed that all “meme coins will eventually go to zero except DOGE,” he promoted the BEN Coin, which was acquired by him from another crypto X (formerly Twitter) influencer, ‘ben.eth.’ Reportedly, BEN Coin was a meme coin that turned into a utility token.
During his days as the Bitboy Crypto, Armstrong would post videos about the latest developments of BEN Coin.
For instance, in June 2023, Armstrong mentioned that Cassie Wolfe, AKA the Duchess of DeFi, is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of BEN Coin. He also added that several advisors have joined the team.
Ben Armstrong’s Comments on Promoting Fraudulent Projects
As mentioned earlier, Ben Armstrong, along with several influencers, get paid to promote some crypto projects. In a CNBC report, it was revealed that Armstrong did accept payments from crypto companies to promote their products.
Reflecting on past mistakes, the attention-seeking influencer also mentioned that he “hates” when he talks about projects that didn’t do well. Apart from the collaborations revealed earlier, there were several other crypto projects like Ethereum Yield, Cypherium, and MYX Network that failed, plummeting in value.
“I mean, of course, I do. I hate it when we talk about stuff that didn’t do well.”
Ben Armstrong’s actions and career journey clearly point out that influencers play a key role and have a significant effect on crypto projects when used as a tool for marketing. In the report, the American influencer mentioned that he “disclosed all of his paid promotional videos.” However, is this statement true? Let’s find out.
The Battles Faced By Bitboy Crypto
During Ben Armstrong’s journey as Bitboy Crypto, he faced a lot of battles with influencers, legal representatives, and many other members of the crypto community. Here are some of the battles that were popular and highly noticed by the crypto community:
Atozy vs. Bitboy Crypto
The battle between Armstrong and Atozy, a talk show host commenting on recent internet events, spanned for a long period, with a lawsuit being filed as well. So how did this battle start?
Back in November 2021, Atozy made a YouTube video explaining how Bitboy Crypto was scamming his fans. The talk show host started his video by describing Bitboy Crypto as a “shady dirtbag who milks his audience for a quick buck rather than giving them genuine advice.”
To justify his comments, he further shared clips of Armstrong promoting the Pamp network (another rug-pull project). When Armstrong mentioned that this project is “guaranteed” to go up, Atozy checked PAMP’s price, which was valued at zero. The talk show host further mocked Armstrong and pointed out the clever tactics implemented to promote the project.
Almost a year later, Armstrong took legal action and filed a lawsuit against the talk show host. In response, Atozy further shared reports that proved Bitboy Crypto was getting paid to promote projects.
Atozy also sought out support from his community and fans, asking them to help cover the costs of defending himself against this lawsuit. He also promised that the remaining funds would be used to donate to various charity organizations.
Days later, Armstrong’s battle with the talk show host seems to have come to an end, with Atozy becoming the victor. The attention-seeking influencer further apologized, claiming this dispute had become public unintentionally.
Atozy’s feat was noticed by the whole crypto community, showing Bitboy Crypto was a “shady dirtbag” who got paid for promoting crypto projects.
ZachXBT Revealing Bitboy Crypto’s Secrets
Like Atozy, several crypto influencers, online talk show hosts, and digital sleuths have accused Ben Armstrong of shilling projects. One of the well-known sleuths in the crypto community is ZachXBT, who posted a comprehensive detail about the direct scams Bitboy Crypto has worked with in the past.
In the tweet, ZachXBT found out about seven direct scams that Ben Armstrong has worked with and promoted to his audience. Apart from accusing Armstrong of promoting rug-pulls and fraudulent projects, ZachXBT also claimed that Bitboy Crypto would often plagiarize other artists’ work.
Naming the first fraudulent project, ZachXBT confirms that Armstrong had worked with MYX, another rug-pull project. However, after the project’s downfall, the popular influencer deleted the video. Where he was promoting MYX.
Some other fraudulent projects that were promoted by the influencer also include DISTX, Zao Finance, ETHY, PAMP, CPH, and LOCK, which were known for causing devastating losses for individuals. After these projects “ran away with investor’s money,” Bitboy Crypto also deleted the videos where he was promoting these fraudulent crypto products.
ZachXBT also pointed out that Bitboy Crypto had plagiarized a few artists’ works and tried to sell them as NFTs. When the proof was given, the team behind Bitboy Crypto claimed that they were just “sampling.”
Here is the worst thing, when a few members of the crypto community would call out Armstrong for plagiarizing content, he would admit it without even apologizing. In one scenario, when a user informed the public that the influencer had stolen content “word for word” from another individual, Armstrong replied, “We will send 100% of the profits. I didn’t design it. But you’re a bitch.”
This clearly shows why many people hate him and call him “a shady dirtbag who milks his audience for a quick buck rather than giving them genuine advice.”
Apart from artwork and content, evidence shows that Bitboy Crypto also plagiarized trading calls. In fact, he stole the spreadsheet and shared it in his YouTube video without giving any credit to the self-claimed trader, Bluntz.
On one occasion, Bitboy Crypto was confronted by a woman at an event who called the influencer a “scammer.” We can see in the above video that when Ben Armstrong does give the woman a chance to share her evidence, he abruptly interrupts her immediately, calling her a “child molestor” for no reason. We can also see that he only interrupts her when she brings up ZachXBT’s threads as proof.
BitBoy Crypto’s Violent Threats to Lawyers
Ben Armstrong’s actions have caught the attention of lawyers, landing him a lawsuit. After he did receive a lawsuit, Armstrong would often make “daily violent threats” against lawyers, specifically calling Adam Moskowitz “dumb” and a “walking piece of human garbage.”
In a notice of proof to the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, lawyers shared proof of Ben Armstrong making such vile remarks on X (formerly Twitter) and sending threatening emails to the lawyers.
In the court documents, the lawyers shared evidence by highlighting ZachXBT’s and Atozy’s investigations, which proved Armstrong was shilling cryptocurrencies. Upon further investigations, the lawyers were able to find old videos where Armstrong promoted FTT, the bankrupt FTX exchange’s token.
In one of the videos, Bitboy Crypto claimed,
“Let’s talk about the secret token. FTT. That is the token of FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried. Everything this man touches turns to gold. FTT is potentially going to be one of the few coins I believe that could go up in the bear market. Now, I know that sounds crazy because I tell you, hardly anything ever does. We could see FTT just absolutely rip.”
Lawyers were not the only ones who noticed BitBoy Crypto promoting the fallen FTT. The X (formerly Twitter) crypto community users began sharing Armstrong’s quotes when he used to promote the token in the past. With all these proofs, many people have expressed that Bitboy Crypto has been taking advantage of his community, making profits, with absolutely no regard for the damage.
The Fall of Bitboy Crypto
By mid-2023, Bitboy Crypto faced devastating losses both personally and mentally. What was the reason behind his downfall?
On August 28, 2023, BJ Investment Holdings, the parent company of Hit Network, tweeted that they had taken decisive legal action to remove Ben Armstrong from the company, specifically the Bitboy Crypto brand.
Elaborating on the announcement, the statement highlighted, “This is a difficult decision that is a culmination of a prolonged effort to help Ben during his relapse into substance abuse as well as reconcile the emotional, physical, and financial damage he has done to the employees of the HIT network and the Bitboy Crypto community.”
“The Bit Squad deserves better, and we’re going to get through this together. We wish him the best and regret it has come to this and are hopeful for the future of Bitboy Crypto.”
When asked why Armstrong was fired in an Altcoin Daily episode, TJ Shedd, the current CEO of Hit Network, mentioned that the influencer was causing “material harm and damage” to the company, himself, and the employees of the company. Shedd also pointed out that several of Armstrong’s actions were creating massive legal liability exposure for the company.
Apart from getting fired, the American influencer also publicly announced that he and Bethany Armstrong would be getting a divorce. He further confirmed the rumors about him and Cassandra Wolfe having an affair.
In an attempt to get Bitboy Crypto back, Armstrong posted a video where he asked for support from fans, requesting to donate some money to pay for his legal fund. In a matter of hours, an X (formerly Twitter) platform, WhaleWire, observed that over $120,000 had been donated to Bitboy Crypto. This could be an indication that there are still fans who remain loyal to Bitboy Crypto.
Armstrong also took extreme steps by live streaming outside of Carlos Diaz’s house after knocking on his door. In the live stream, the influencer mentioned that Carlos had his favorite Lamborghini and began talking about the entire story of the dispute. The livestream ended with Armstrong being arrested by the police officers of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Armstrong also confirmed through a tweet that he had spent eight whole hours in jail.
After Bitboy Crypto was fired, the YouTube channel rebranded to Discover Crypto. The American influencer also took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce, “Bitboy is dead. There is no Bitboy. There is no Bitsquad. It’s over.” Currently, he still creates video content for his new YouTube channel, ‘Ben Armstrong.’
Conclusion
Ben Armstrong was one of the most popular influencers in the crypto space, attracting users with his various marketing strategies and content creation style. While he has been accused of shilling projects, plagiarism, and causing damage, there are still fans out there who remain loyal even throughout the influencer’s antics and downfall.
This article is to help you understand who Armstrong is and also provide a glimpse into the world of hidden influencers. Just like Armstrong, there could be several influencers who have allegedly shilled crypto projects without being transparent about them. Influencers in the crypto market may remain as a means to promote fraudulent projects (only if YOU decide)!
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