King of the Shill: Does BitBoy Crypto Have Your Best Interests?

BitBoy’s reputation reaches new lows in the crypto community.

BitBoy Crypto vs. Atozy

BitBoy Crypto is facing scrutiny in the crypto community due to his failed plan to sue Atozy.

YouTube influencer Benjamin Armstrong sparked outrage earlier this month when it was revealed that he had attempted to sue another YouTuber known as Atozy. Armstrong issued the threats after Atozy published 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 well-known crypto personality Cobie to donate $100,000 to the cause and overwhelming support from the community.

In response, Armstrong announced on August 24 that he was dropping the lawsuit, prompting celebration and ridicule from the community. Spectators created memes, singer, and NFTs to mark the occasion. “Looks like everyone is doing the right thing now… Yay for happy endings,” so Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz.

Mengshoel Jr. then tweeted a confusing update on August 26. He argued that Armstrong’s attorneys had not dismissed the case and had actually filed a return that set a deadline for Mengshoel Jr. to provide a legal response. This update begged the question: Was Armstrong lying when he said he was dropping the case, or was his legal team out of control?

Jake Chervinsky, one of the most prominent lawyers operating in the crypto space, pointed out that It sometimes takes days for court filings to enter the public domain, meaning the service could have been provided before Armstrong decided to drop the lawsuit. However, he indicated that it “takes about five minutes for a claimant to file a notice” and that it appeared the procedure had not been initiated.

Armstrong so in response to Mengshoel Jr. that the delay in processing time was the reason for the service being returned. “Talking to a lawyer today. Will be officially dropped at the end of the lawyer early next week,” he wrote. “As soon as it’s done, will let everyone know. It’s a process. So yeah, it’s over. Just need some paperwork to wrap it up.”

While Armstrong’s response may be legitimate, it’s hard to overlook his disjointed story. There’s a reason why Armstrong has attracted so much scorn over the years.

Paid marketing

At the time of writing, Armstrong has 1.44 million YouTube views subscribers on YouTube and more than 883,400 Twitter followers. He is often one of the first resources crypto newcomers in search of insight stumble upon. However, as such ZachXBTCoffeezilla and Anthony Pompliano have called out, Armstrong often uses his platform to promote dubious crypto projects to his unwitting – and often inexperienced – auditornce. Armstrong doesn’t support projects just because a fan of them; he does it for a paycheck.

A document allegedly detailing Armstrong’s marketing terms circulated the crypto space earlier this year as part of a ZachXBT exposure. The document claimed that Armstrong charges $35,000 for dedicated crypto project reviews, $20,000 to mention a project on one of his live streams, $40,000 for an interview, $10,000 for a Telegram AMA session and $2,500 for a text article on his website. Mengshoel Jr. made the same claims in the video that led to Armstrong’s legal threats.

Several projects – including the likes of Pamp Network and Kasta – have fallen flat since Armstrong backed them. When a project is tanking after Armstrong gives his stamp of approval, he often deletes or removes videos promoting the project in an attempt to cover his tracks (a video promoting Pamp, an abandoned project Mengshoel Jr. criticized Armstrong for endorsing is nowhere to be seen now that the token has crashed).

Despite Armstrong’s poor track record, mainstream media outlets have consulted him for his views on Bitcoin, Ethereum and the broader crypto market on several occasions over the past year. “Let me ask you about some other names that come to mind. Shiba Inu, do you like it? Dogecoin, Ripple. Talk to me about these names,” Fox Business anchor Charles Payne Armstrong asked on air Nov. 1. “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 lawsuit

“Never in the history of this channel have I [mislead my viewers]. Not even. Not once have I ever done that… And the words that come out of your mouth, that buy into the meme culture of the echo chamber you live in – it’s stupid, Pomp, It’s real. You’re out here assassinating people’s characters.”

Those were Armstrong’s words to Pompliano in response to accusations that he is deceiving the public. Armstrong has frequently denied the allegations against him and made claims of emotional distress. But in December 2021, he came up with a new answer—threatening human beings with lawsuits. Before his threats against Mengshoel Jr., none of his previous warnings ended up in court. Still, Armstrong weighed in once sue Twitter for butchering giving him a blue badge, and he too tried to organize a class action against Celsius as an insolvency crisis hit the fund in June.

Given that Armstrong advertised (true or not) that he dropped the case against Mengshoel Jr. hours after Cobie sent him $100,000 to fund legal fees, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that Armstrong is simply using litigation as a scare tactic against his critics. But in this case, his strategy has backfired (spectacularly).

How long can BitBoy last?

While Armstrong has faced a backlash over his antics against Mengshoel Jr., he’s unlikely to suffer too much anytime soon. Armstrong may be seen as a charlatan by many of the industry’s long-time players, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a hit with newer crypto followers. A look at his YouTube channel shows that his recent videos are pulling in similar views to those he posted during the 2021 bull market.

The composition of his viewership also needs to be considered: even if old followers drop out due to bad conversations, newcomers will replace them. Still, at least some of Armstrong’s longtime audience are catching on. In an August 21 video titled “Cardano: MILLIONAIRE MAKER (Why the ADA WILL Make You RICH in 2023!),” some viewers called Armstrong out for bad talk about the ADA earlier. “I remember last year when you said ‘this will be your last chance to buy ADA for under $1.00’. I was bad for not selling it last fall when it was up from there,” they wrote. Another said that Armstrong’s analysis was “kind of like last year’s videos about XRP making you rich and then the price dropping by 5x.”

For now, BitBoy Crypto remains the world’s biggest crypto influencer, but with each new controversy, Armstrong’s media business comes closer to suffering the same fate as the dubious tokens on his shill list– goes to zero.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.