King of the Shill: Does BitBoy Crypto have your best interests at heart?
Key points to remember
- BitBoy Crypto is YouTube’s biggest crypto influencer, popular among newcomers to the space.
- It has come under fire for using its platform to endorse dodgy crypto tokens.
- BitBoy recently threatened to sue Atozy after speaking out about his behavior, but has since claimed he was dropping the lawsuit.
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BitBoy’s reputation is hitting new lows in the crypto community.
BitBoy Crypto vs. Atozy
BitBoy Crypto is under intense scrutiny within the crypto community for its failed plan to sue Atozy.
YouTube influencer named Benjamin Armstrong sparked outrage earlier this month when it was revealed he had tried to sue another YouTuber known as Atozy. Armstrong made the threats after the publication of Atozy a video titled “This Youtuber Scams His Fans…Bitboy Crypto” in November 2021. Atozy, real name Erling Mengshoel Jr., announced on Twitter that he was facing a legal battle with Armstrong. This inspired famous crypto personality Cobie to donate $100,000 towards the case and overwhelming support from the community.
In response, Armstrong announcement on August 24, he dropped the case, sparking community celebration and ridicule. Spectators created memes, songs, and NFT To mark the occasion. “Looks like everyone’s doing the right thing now… Yay for the happy endings,” said Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz.
Mengshoel Jr. then tweeted a confusing update on August 26. He claimed that Armstrong’s attorneys did not dismiss the case and had, in fact, filed a service report setting a deadline for Mengshoel Jr. to provide a legal response. This update prompted a question: Was Armstrong lying when he said he was dropping the lawsuit, or was his legal team out of control?
Jake Chervinsky, one of the most prominent lawyers operating in the crypto space, underline this court filings sometimes take days to reach the public docket, meaning the return of service could have been filed before Armstrong decided to drop the lawsuit. However, he said it “takes about five minutes for a plaintiff to file a dismissal notice” and it appeared that proceedings had not been initiated.
amstrong said in response to Mengshoel Jr. that the delay in processing time was the reason for the service return filing. “I’m speaking with a lawyer today. Will officially drop at the end of Avocado early next week,” he wrote. “As soon as it is done, I will let everyone know. It’s a process. So yes, it’s over. Just need some papers to conclude.
While Armstrong’s response may be legit, it’s hard to ignore his patchy history. There’s a reason Armstrong has earned so much scorn over the years.
Paid Marketing
As of this writing, Armstrong has 1.44 million YouTube subscribers on YouTube and more than 883,400 followers on Twitter. It is often one of the first resources newcomers to crypto looking for information stumble upon. However, as the likes of ZachXBT, Cafezillaand Antoine Pompliano called, Armstrong frequently uses his platform to promote dodgy crypto projects to its oblivious and often inexperienced audiencence. Armstrong doesn’t approve of projects just because he’s a fan of them; he does it for a salary.
A document that would detail Armstrong’s marketing terms distributed crypto space earlier this year as part of a ZachXBT talk. The document claimed that Armstrong charged $35,000 for dedicated crypto project reviews, $20,000 for mentioning a project on one of his live streams, $40,000 for an interview, $10,000 for a Telegram session. AMA and $2,500 for a text article on its website. Mengshoel Jr. made the same allegations in the video that prompted Armstrong’s legal threats.
Several projects, including those of Pam Network and Kasta— have stagnated since Armstrong endorsed them. When a project fails after Armstrong gives his stamp of approval, he frequently deletes or removes videos promoting the project in an effort to cover his tracks (a video promoting Pamp, an abandoned project Mengshoel Jr. slammed Armstrong for his support, can’t be found now his token crashed).
Despite Armstrong’s poor track record, mainstream media have consulted him several times over the past year for his views on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the broader crypto market. “Let me ask you about some other names that pop up. Shiba Inu, do you like that? Dogecoin, ripple. Tell me about those names,” Fox Business presenter Charles Payne asked Armstrong at the time. antenna on November 1st. “I think Ripple will be the most explosive coin in the next few months,” Armstrong said. XRP peaked at $1.32 nine days later; it is now trading at around $0.33.
BitBoy threatens legal action
“Never in the history of this channel have I [mislead my viewers]. Not even once. Not once have I ever done this… And the words that come out of your mouth, that become part of the meme culture in the echo chamber you live in – that’s silly, Pomp, it really is. You are here murdering people’s characters.
These are Armstrong’s words to Pompliano in response to accusations that he is misleading his audience. Armstrong frequently denied the allegations against him and reported emotional distress. But in December 2021, he offered a new answer—threatening people with lawsuits. Prior to his threats against Mengshoel Jr., none of his previous warnings ended up in court. Yet Armstrong once weighed sue twitter for slacking off giving it a blue tick, and he also tried to organize a class action lawsuit against Celsius as an insolvency crisis hit the fund in June.
Since Armstrong announced (truthfully or not) that he was dropping his lawsuit against Mengshoel Jr. hours after Cobie sent him $100,000 to fund legal costs, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that Armstrong is simply using litigation as a tactic of intimidation against its detractors. But in this case, his strategy backfired (dramatically).
How long can BitBoy last?
While Armstrong faced backlash over his antics against Mengshoel Jr. is unlikely to suffer too much anytime soon. Armstrong may be considered a quack by many long-timers in the industry, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a hit with newer crypto enthusiasts. A look at his YouTube channel shows that his recent videos are generating a similar number of views to those he posted during the 2021 bull market.
The composition of his audience must also be taken into account: even if old followers drop out because of his bad calls, there will be newcomers to replace them. Still, at least some of Armstrong’s longtime audience are catching on. In a video from august 21 entitled “Cardano: MILLIONAIRE MAKER (Why ADA WILL MAKE YOU RICH in 2023!),” some viewers called out Armstrong for making bad calls to ADA in the past. “I remember last year when you said ‘this will be the last chance you have to buy ADA under $1.00.’ was from there,” they wrote. Another said Armstrong’s analysis was “Kind of like the videos last year about XRP making you rich and then the price going down 5x.”
For now, BitBoy Crypto is still the biggest crypto influencer in the world, but with each new controversy, Armstrong’s media activity comes closer to meeting the same fate as the dodgy tokens on his list of accomplices.– go to zero.
Disclosure: At the time of writing this article, the author of this article owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
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