Molly Jane Zuckerman

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Everybody loves a delicious story.&nbsp;



The delicious story of the week for Crypto Twitter was Ben Armstrong (formerly BitBoy Crypto) and his firing, flameout and livestreamed arrest.&nbsp;



Crypto media treated the story with as much interest and enthusiasm as if it was FTX 2.0. At least, it felt especially so, because Armstrong — long a controversial figure before his unceremonious exit from the successful BitBoy Crypto channel on YouTube — had taken such pleasure in saying he (allegedly) <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooFinance/status/1594369981705240582">knew</a> ex-FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried was a “scammer” since day one.



I’m not here to opine on what Ben Armstrong and his now-former business associates allegedly did or didn’t do, both recently and in the past &nbsp;— there’s plenty of Crypto Twitter fodder to churn through if you’re interested.&nbsp;



Instead, I want to dig into why this story captured the hearts and minds of crypto, and crypto alone, this week.&nbsp;



The phrase “there’s no press like bad press” seems apt here. Could it be that we are all secretly hoping for Armstrong’s public meltdown to catapult crypto again into the wider media universe?



Crypto-only media outlets tend to focus on the real meat of the crypto space. New innovations, launches, partnerships, regulation (and also sometimes, inexplicably <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ai-cryptocurrency-connection">AI</a>) — in other words, up-close coverage of straight news that’s really only important to the crypto circle. And we don’t expect anyone else to care.



The big exception, as I’m sure you are all waiting with baited breath for me to say, is the case of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. This was a story that made it beyond crypto media to the mainstream, and also a story that went beyond covering a run-of-the-mill crypto scam to tabloid-esque coverage of polycules.&nbsp;



The BitBoy story, salacious as it may be, has remained siloed within crypto media. Scrolling back through every single article covering the Armstrong/BitBoy this week, you can only find one non-crypto media outlet who took the bait, and their piece spells crypto as “crytpo.”



I’m not begrudging crypto media outlets a chance to pounce on a sensational story. The market has been exceptionally boring for the past few months — and there are only so many articles you can write about the supposed “end of the bear market.”



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-must-advertise-airports" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Crypto must advertise</a>



But seeing the crypto world’s interest in the situation around Armstrong and BitBoy Crypto feels a bit like the masses grasping at straws of relevancy. It was definitely a terrible time for crypto when Bankman-Fried was the center of worldwide media attention, and the spotlight on FTX’s collapse did nothing to help crypto’s perception — but at least it was a hot topic that brought crypto an insane amount of mindshare.&nbsp;



If the plan is to repeat this situation, it’s not working. It doesn’t seem like Ben Armstrong and his antics have left a strong enough mark —&nbsp;nobody involved allegedly misappropriated billions of dollars, for example — to inspire books and TV documentaries, like someone else we know.



The Armstrong drama — and the attention paid especially — instead seems symptomatic of what I see as crypto’s often misguided superiority complex. The sheer audacity of the FTX tale took the world by storm last year. But we’re still nowhere near capturing that mindshare high again, especially not with smaller <a href="https://twitter.com/HashBastardsNFT/status/1707045975057903763?s=20">dramas</a> of crypto YouTubers and their Lamborghinis.



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I don’t care much about tech, I don’t care a whole lot about finance, either. I care about writing stories and watching weird things unfold. And that’s why I’ve ended up in crypto. But because I’m missing that passion for what crypto and blockchain are all about — finance, tech, privacy, yadda yadda — I’m going to write instead about what I am actually interested in. Everything about crypto that has very little to do with crypto. That’s what this column will be about. All the tangential stories that come out of the blockchain and crypto space, what I think about them, and how I navigate it all as a skeptical former Russian literature major. It’s precisely my perch as an outsider that lets me do what I do: Opine on all sides of any crypto issue, no strings attached, no skin in the game. If you want to talk crypto with me, let’s go off topic.



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Ben Armstrong

Crypto is boring right now, but the BitBoy drama isn’t much more exciting

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_63073024d0b5d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Ben &#8216;BitBoy&#8217; Armstrong had alleged he sustained losses of more than $75,000 after fellow YouTuber &#8216;atozy&#8217; released a critical video</li>
 <li>Atozy raised about $200,000 from the crypto community to support his legal defense</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ben Armstrong — the YouTuber who goes by the name &#8220;BitBoy Crypto&#8221; — <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-youtuber-sues-fellow-influencer-who-dubbed-him-shady-dirtbag/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently sued</a> fellow influencer Erling ‘Atozy’ Mengshoel in a defamation lawsuit.&nbsp;



He’s now apologized that the suit caught public attention, and is dumping the case.



“We are going to drop the lawsuit, 100%,” he said during his regular <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VGmTZWB4RY" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">livestream</a> on Wednesday. “I&#8217;m sorry this became public.”



Armstrong wanted the matter to be private, disclosing that a previous confidential lawsuit was settled to his preference. “I&#8217;ve had another lawsuit. It was behind closed doors, and it worked out great. Both parties were happy, and it was settled,” he said, without providing further details.&nbsp;



The YouTuber then expressed he hadn’t anticipated the public would find out about the lawsuit, as his &#8220;name is now so big.&#8221; If he did, he wouldn’t have filed it, he said (all lawsuits are <a href="https://connorreporting.com/court-records-proceedings-public/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">public record</a>).



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">So, about the <a href="https://twitter.com/Bitboy_Crypto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Bitboy_Crypto</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/atozy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@atozy</a> lawsuit: It looks like everyone is doing the right thing now. And as I suspected, it seems Ben was mislead by his lawyers who *definitely* should have known better. Yay for happy endings.&mdash; 𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚣 (@JoelKatz) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelKatz/status/1562632406829371394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption>Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz has been <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelKatz/status/1562316408301637632" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vocal</a> about the lawsuit on Twitter.</figcaption></figure>



His lawsuit filed August 12 was based on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DibvroDcT88" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">November 2021 video</a>, in which Atozy describes BitBoy Crypto as “a shady dirtbag who milks his audience for a quick buck rather than giving them genuine advice.” Atozy also slams the YouTuber for hyping a flop token called Pamp and argues he shouldn’t be offering financial advice.



Armstrong alleged he sustained losses over $75,000, and so his claim sought general, compensatory and special damages for defamation. The claim will be walked back now that the case is being dropped.



“Atozy, you’re the winner here. He’s the winner. I’m the loser,” he said.



This isn’t the first time Armstrong planned unsuccessful legal action. After Celsius’ bankruptcy in June, he <a href="https://twitter.com/Bitboy_Crypto/status/1537987628494036994" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intended to launch</a> a class-action lawsuit against the lender over its platform-wide withdrawal freeze. Realizing that he once promoted Celsius’ business via his BitBoy Crypto YouTube channel, he dropped the plan.



Armstrong’s lawyers from Krevolin &amp; Horst didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Atozy thanks crypto community for rallying defense against BitBoy</h3>



Atozy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B95xYAfRCtY" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uploaded a video</a> titled “I got sued” on Wednesday, in which he defended his comments against BitBoy Crypto. “When the largest crypto channel on YouTube promotes something that turned out to be a scam, that&#8217;s something worth covering,” he said.



He intended to fight the case. But because he didn’t have the money for it, he linked a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/defending-myself-from-bitboys-frivolous-lawsuit?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&amp;utm_medium=copy_link&amp;utm_source=customer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GoFundMe page</a> to help defend himself against Armstrong’s “frivolous lawsuit.”&nbsp;



As of Thursday, Atozy had received 610 donations worth $53,407 through the campaign. Additionally, seasoned crypto podcaster Cobie <a href="https://twitter.com/crockpot_xyz/status/1562399751747821568" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">donated</a> USDC worth $100,000.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">He did it 🫡 <a href="https://t.co/6fNpi28dRZ">pic.twitter.com/6fNpi28dRZ</a>&mdash; Crockpot (@crockpot_xyz) <a href="https://twitter.com/crockpot_xyz/status/1562399751747821568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



After Armstrong said the lawsuit would be scrapped, Atozy confirmed he raised about $200,000 in total. He said he would refund donors once it was officially confirmed that the suit would be pulled.&nbsp;



“Thank you guys for saving me,” Atozy said. 



Still, Atozy appears skeptical, <a href="https://twitter.com/atozy/status/1562547774377168897" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeting</a> late Wednesday: &#8220;If [Armstrong] has really directed his lawyer to dismiss the lawsuit against me he should prove that it&#8217;s happened by posting a copy of the dismissal WITH PREJUDICE of all claims against me.&#8221;



&#8220;I&#8217;m told by my lawyer that if it is not with prejudice he can refile at any time,&#8221; he said.



Updated with additional tweets from Atozy.



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