Benjamin Armstrong, a YouTuber, podcaster, and cryptocurrency enthusiast, popularly known as the face of “BitBoy Crypto” has reportedly separated from the brand, amid ongoing speculation and rumors, including a potential arrest warrant over a possible ponzi scheme.
According to a number of crypto influencers, Armstrong, a controversial figure in the crypto community, has left the company following a string of controversies such as advocating risky investments trading to casual investors through affiliate links, along with claims he sold tokens after promoting them to viewers.
BitBoy Crypto Host Alleges “Coup Attempt” Within Company
On August 28, Bitcoin author Jason A. Williams took to X, revealing Armstrong has exited from Hit Network/BJ Investment Holdings and all its subsidiary brands, including BitBoy Crypto and Around The Blockchain. Meanwhile, Armstrong also confirmed the development on his personal X account, signaling an ongoing internal conflict within his company, “BitBoy Crypto”.
Bitboy crypto fired from Bitboy crypto. Now he just called boy. pic.twitter.com/wwJYBVR2sa
— Jason A. Williams (@GoingParabolic) August 28, 2023
Despite his departure, Armstrong exerted confidence in retaining control, accusing TJ Shedd & Justin Williams of the attempted coup within the company. The BitBoy Crypto former host wrote,
“This is Ben. TJ Shedd & Justin Williams have attempted a coup at my company. Just confirming what is going around. It’s true. There has been a mutiny at BitBoy Crypto & Hit Network. But it won’t work. They have no leverage. Until they can clone me, I have nothing to worry about.”
This is Ben.
TJ Shedd & Justin Williams have attempted a coup at my company.
Just confirming what is going around. It’s true. There has been a mutiny at BitBoy Crypto & Hit Network. But it won’t work. They have no leverage
Until they can clone me, I have nothing to worry about
— $BEN (@joinBENCoin) August 27, 2023
As speculations ran high, Wendy O, a prominent crypto influencer, confirmed the rumors to her 194,000 subscribers during a livestream. She clarified that more information on the news will be available in the next 24 hours. Wendy said,
“We are going to get more information tomorrow. Hit Network is going to put out an official statement, so we essentially have to wait for that to confirm what happened.”
Ben Armstrong’s Past Tryst With Controversies
This isn’t Armstrong’s first tryst with controversy. His roller-coaster journey has been marked by potential scams, hazy dealings, and highly questionable ethics. On June 5, he announced the ending of his partnership with controversial memecoin creator “Ben.eth.”
It came after Armstrong caught the crypto community’s attention when he showed interest in BEN tokens in May 2023. Although Armstrong claimed no direct involvement in its creation, he did admit to receiving an allocation. His enthusiasm caused the coin to surge over 300%. However, soon after, the token plunged a staggering 200%.
I have completely separated from @eth_ben. We will no longer working together in any capacity. Good luck to him on all accounts, but going forward, $BEN will have no association to any project related to him.
He also no longer holds any $BEN token.
— Bitboy Crypto (@Bitboy_Crypto) June 5, 2023
Accusations of a pump-and-dump scheme led Armstrong to commit to holding the tokens for at least six months. But interestingly, just a week after, Armstrong dumped all his BEN token holdings, triggering uproar from the community. Despite the allegations, he maintained that he sold his tokens to fund a deal for the BEN Foundation.
Crypto Community Grills Armstrong
Unfortunately, the crypto community refused to buy this, triggering an array of controversies. One user mentioned that BitBoy “made it look like it would be a great idea to buy… and tried to persuade people to buy.”
While another user, Kloss.eth, highlighted how BitBoy’ manipulated markets’ through tons of videos of paid sponsors offering the x1000 promise.
In one of the incidents, one user publicly called Bitboy a criminal and noted that he should be banned from the property. David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ripple, called the BEN coin project a “100% rug pull.”
Do you mean that the rug will be pulled in the future? Or do you mean that Bitboy joining the team is itself a rug pull? Because one of those things I definitely agree with.
— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 10, 2023
In another scandal, Armstrong, already under scrutiny for promoting fraud through FTX, failed to appear in court for a lawsuit hearing, despite being ordered by a federal judge. Instead, he mocked the court order on social media, resulting in the case proceeding without him and his potential arrest warrant.
I am supposed to be in court today.
I’m not. Why?
Because I don’t give AF
RECKLESSNESS SPONSORED BY https://t.co/RtFomcGS5v pic.twitter.com/t9XqsNd6da
— Bitboy Crypto (@Bitboy_Crypto) April 20, 2023
Furthermore, BitBoy was accused of defrauding or misleading his 1.44 million YouTube subscribers in 2022 after several pieces of evidence surfaced suggesting that he did not disclose the paid advertising content in his videos.
In August 2022, Armstrong filed a defamation suit against YouTuber Erling Mengshoel Jr. in response to a video Mengshoel posted claiming that “This YouTuber scams his fans… Bitboy Crypto.” The BitBoy creator was also slapped with a $1 Billion Lawsuit for soliciting the sale of unregistered securities in promoting Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.
