BitBoy Crypto
Bitboy Crypto (real name Ben Armstrong) is the Creator of the Youtube channel and Website: BitBoy Crypto[4]. A platform where users can get the latest crypto news, project reviews, and cryptocurrency trading advice. Ben is also well known for his crypto investing and crypto mining ideas in the space.[1][2][3]
Early Life & Education
BitBoy Crypto (Ben Armstrong) was born on the 27th of October 1982. He is a popular crypto YouTuber, Entrepreneur, and Social Media influencer based in the United States of America. [3]
He attended Kennesaw State University and Toccoa Falls College where he studied for his Bachelor's Degree in Ministry Leadership and graduated in 2012. [1]
Career
Bitboy Crypto (Ben Armstrong) started his career in October 2015 as the Executive Director of Three Dimensional Life[5] in Gainesville, GA. In September 2015, he served as a co-host for Beards & Bitcoins[6] in Austin, Texas Area.
Armstrong got involved with the world of cryptocurrency in 2012 when he first invested in Bitcoin. He is the Owner and Designer for Ben Armstrong Designs which he founded in January 2015. [1]
BitBoy Crypto
Bitboy Crypto decided to go “full-time crypto” in 2018 and focus all of his time and energy on expanding the reach of crypto. [1]
In January 2018, he founded the Youtube channel, BitBoy Crypto, a platform where users can get the latest crypto news, project reviews, and cryptocurrency trading advice. BitBoy Crypto has become a recognized news channel for updates on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. In 2020, it expanded to include a separate news division. [2]
BitBoy News is a website dedicated to educating and informing the public on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. The website has exclusive stories that provide a different perspective on the news than readers get from traditional crypto news sources. [4]
Controversy
BitBoy Crypto vs Class Action Lawsuit[8]
On March 20, 2023, a $1 billion class action lawsuit was filed against Bitboy Crypto alongside Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Graham Stephan, and basketball star, Jimmy Butler. [8]
According to the report[8], Binance listed unregistered securities as cryptocurrencies and paid social media influencers like Bitboy Crypto to promote these assets. The law firms claim they investigated the crypto exchange for over a year before filing the lawsuit. One of the cryptos considered unregistered security, in this case, is the Binance token BNB. The filing argued that the BNB burn program makes the asset an unregistered security because it reduces the coin’s supply to boost its value. [22]
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three plaintiffs — two Florida residents and a person from California — who said they lost money while trading digital assets promoted by Binance and the influencers. The complaints suggested the case could have millions of people eligible for damages.
Speaking about the case, Adam Moskowitz[10] of Moskowitz Law Firm reportedly said:
“The statute clearly states that if an influencer is promoting an unregistered security, and has a financial interest in doing so, the influencer may be liable to everyone who bought the assets. The exchange that facilitates the trades would be liable as well.”
BitBoy's reaction tweet:
"This is how dumb Adam Moskowitz is:
He’s suing me for promoting unregistered securities through affiliate program at Binance. What evidence does he use? He uses quotes from the CFTC action vs Binance.
You know, the one where CFTC calls $BTC, $ETH, $LTC, & $BUSD commodities. [9]
According to Bitboy, the evidence cited by Moskowitz[10] to support the complaint is flimsy.
He says the complaint is based on the CFTC’s lawsuit against Binance, in which Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and BUSD are defined as commodities and not securities. However, that lawsuit does not refer to cryptocurrency trading on the spot market, but to derivatives trading on the platform. [11]
The lawyers leading the class action suit said in documents filed with the court that after the lawsuit was filed, Bitboy has been harassing one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys with
"endless phone calls, Tweets and emails to him privately, and publicly by posting insulting and threatening posts" on social media and that his "behavior has been quickly escalating."
According to the filing, Bitboy also sent profanity-laced emails to Moskowitz in addition to a message warning the attorney he was "choosing war with an anonymous community while you yourself are not."[13]
The court has not yet responded to the harassment claims against Bitboy Crypto. [12]
Bitboy Crypto vs Atozy
On August 12, 2022, Bitboy filed a federal complaint against Youtuber Erling Mengshoel Jr (YouTube channel name, Atozy)[15] in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, with a raft of claims, including defamation, infliction of emotional distress and tortious interference with business relations or potential business relations. [16]
In the lawsuit, Bitboy alleged that the influencer Erling Mengshoel aka Atozy negatively impacted his business relations after releasing a November 2021 video[14] that scorns BitBoy for promoting scams and pumping micro-cap coins to fans. [16]
Atozy says in the video that BitBoy has “been known for being a shady dirtbag who milks his audience for a quick buck rather than giving them genuine advice.” He also claims Armstrong isn’t someone who should be offering financial advice because “you don’t know whether he’s trying to enrich you or himself,” and calls him out for talking up a washout cryptocurrency called Pamp. [16]
Atozy was served at his home a few days later and in response to the lawsuit, called for the assistance of viewers and the cryptocurrency community to tackle what he described as a “frivolous” lawsuit from Bitboy.
“I’m crowdfunding to help cover the insane costs of defending myself against this frivolous lawsuit”
On August 25, 2022, Bitboy said that he was dropping the defamation suit against Atozy. Bitboy outlined that he initially filed the complaint with the aim of getting Atozy to take the video down and suggested that he didn’t want to actually go through with the court proceedings. However, Bitboy explained that Atozy now has enough to cover legal costs, and with prominent crypto trader/podcasters such as Cobie (Jordan Fish) donating $100,000 to the cause, the dispute has gone further than he initially intended. [17]
“So we are gonna drop the lawsuit, 100% and I’m sorry this became public, I’m sorry that this has been misconstrued, but I just want you guys to understand why I was doing this. This was not about a slapstick lawsuit." - Bitboy said in a live video
“When someone implies that you could be in trouble from the SEC, that is not frivolous guys, that’s a very serious matter. And so from my perspective, trying to defend my reputation, trying to get him to remove the video that literally has wrong information in it, that was all I wanted,” - he added
"He's the winner, I'm the loser, and I really hope he listens to this, I'm sorry you've had to go through this... and remove the video, or at least go back and edit the wrong parts and keep it up." - Bitboy concluded. [18][19]
BitBoy Crypto Youtube Ban
On July 29, 2021, BitBoy Crypto got banned on YouTube for a brief period. Ben said the reason for the ban was an unfair crackdown on crypto-related content.
URGENT: Like & Retweet NOW! Tonight @TeamYouTube deleted my YouTube channel. The censorship and unfair crackdown on #crypto has gone too far. If you want to see YouTube give me my channel back so we can share education and news with you, let @teamyoutube know. - Bitboy tweeted [20]
Within 24 hours, the channel was reinstated. [21]
