Influencer Marketing is one of the most effective ways to market a product. It includes big boys of social media to present a product for promotion and selling purpose. Bitboy Crypto is considered as one of the most admired channels among the crypto community. But some entities in the cryptosphere looked deep into the history of this YouTuber, which tells a whole different story.
A Short History of Promotions
Earlier in January 2022, ZackXBT, who claims to be a rug pull survivor turned investigator on his Twitter, issued a thread on the social media platform discussing several projects Bitboy Crypto have promoted. Let’s take a look at some of the projects he discussed to understand more about the channel’s promotions.
He promoted a project known as MYX. The community warned the YouTuber about the asset, but he promoted it anyway. It eventually shrinked to become 0. The YouTuber ultimately deleted the video to escape the criticism. He addressed this project called DISTX his “most trusted coin,” but the project gave similar outcomes. The company deleted their account from Twitter and vanished.
ZAO Finance (ZAO) claimed that it offers the most financial freedom in their ecosystem. They ended up like the projects mentioned above. Similarly, Meridian Network (LOCK), another project promoted by the YouTuber, deleted their account after taking the money from investors.
Cypherium Blockchain (CPH) followed the same pattern after the YouTuber promoted them, and the YouTube channel too followed the same pattern. He deleted the video. The investigator also mentioned the PAMP project, which Atozy placed as the focal point in the video.
The YouTuber compared the project with leading cryptocurrencies in the market. Tezos and Chainlink. Tezos is currently in partnership with the greatest football club of all time, Manchester United. Erling Mengshoel described the situation as making the people invest in a 9 year lemonade by saying that it is going to become the next Minute Maid or Nestle.
ZachXBT also mentioned a video by Ben Armstrong (Top 3 Coins to reach 3 Million USD). In another thread, the investigator exposed that the YouTube channel plagiarized a content word for word. The YouTuber apologized for the event and said that all profits from the video will go to the victim. Not just this, ZachXBT revealed another work of plagiarism where Armstrong stole the concept from an NFT artist.
YouTubers Going Head to Head
A lawsuit between Ben Armstrong (owner of YouTube channel Bitboy Crypto) vs Erling Mengshoel (owner of Youtube channel Atozy), showcases how things can escalate and lead to a massive downfall.
The case started with Ben Armstrong filing the lawsuit against Mengshoel, alleging that his actions had shaken his reputation from top to bottom. Atozy must be following him for a really long time. Because his video was none other than a surgical strike for Bitboy. The video started with the YouTuber foaming at the mouth on false allegations made by people during Anthony Pompliano’s podcast.
Atozy called him a ‘Shady Dirtbag’ in the video, and went on to ‘expose’ his several promotions. He was confused about the fact that Ben is leading the users on a path to make them rich or using them as the stepping stones for himself. He mentioned the PAMP project whose value went 0 after the promotion.
Bitboy Crypto in his video influenced the viewers by implementing an idea that what if a cryptocurrency will rise upwards only. Guaranteed profits right? But unfortunately that asset’s worth is almost zero. According to Atozy, the YouTuber was doing paid promotions of fraudulent tokens which eventually left the buyers holding their bags.
Erling describes the situation by addressing the buyers of these assets “suckers,” which the fraudulent companies target to pump the token’s value and disappear from the market. This is generally categorized as a rug pull. He claimed that Armstrong cannot be trusted as a financial advisor and is misleading the viewers through the video.
In a follow-up video by Bitboy Crypto, Ben Armstrong revealed that he will drop the case 100%. He explained that all these events were not intentional. He said that ‘when they researched the project (PAMP), it appeared legit, but in the end, they unveiled their reality.’ he added that he posted a video apology immediately after the rug pull.
The lawsuit involves 75,000 USD, and it appears like Ben does not want the issue to escalate to the next level. He apologized that all the matter became public. After hearing about the lawsuit, Atozy said that his channel only focuses on the “dumb stuff” happening across the internet. He said that “It is insane that he is being sued for expressing himself.”
This situation is a hard nut to crack. On one hand, the points Atozy put in front of the viewers makes sense, as all the projects his rival touched to promote them, downsized to almost 0. On the other hand, it is possible that Armstrong did not really have an idea that the assets he was promoting were just playing the trick to lure investors in the traps.
Ben Armstrong Investigating FTX Collapse in Bahamas
Ben is currently pursuing Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX CEO. In the recent news, he was seen camping outside SBF’s condo to get answers regarding the FTX fall. He has previously promoted the FTT token in one of his videos. He even said that whatever SBF touches, turns into gold. It seems like Ben has now turned his back from the FTX CEO.
During a Decentralcon panel Ben Armstrong talked about trust and said that people should not put allegations in the absence of any proof. To this, a person from the audience took a stand and left him shaking. She said “Look at you, you are shaking. That is a Psychological evidence when people are wrong.”
Social platforms are immensely influential and can be utilized to defraud people. On one hand, influencers act like they can show the way to make fortune to their followers, and the very next moment they turn their backs like they did not encourage them to do so.
This clearly depicts how influencer marketing can make or break anything. It is always a stroke of luck for the viewers following these promoters, as the product they are promoting can transform into something like Bitcoin, or it can empty their pockets just like the “SQUID” token.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/12/02/how-crypto-influencing-can-affect-the-investors-in-a-long-run/