The CFTC is investigating fraudulent cryptocurrency activity by unknown individuals, which may have involved 15 tokens, including the Mimecoin BEN.
The agency issued a subpoena on July 16 to Hit Network, a cryptocurrency-focused media company that is the public face of Ben Armstrong, formerly known as “BitBoy.” The subpoena, seen by The Block, requests information on trading activity and digital wallets related to 15 tokens. The subpoena states that this is part of an investigation into individuals who have engaged in fraudulent and illegal activities related to digital currencies.
Armstrong introduced all the tokens mentioned in various videos, for example: According to the title of the YouTube video, one of them has the highest chance of increasing in price by 100x.The subpoena made no mention of Armstrong.
Videos mentioning tokens (except BEN) were produced under BitBoy Crypto branding in or before March 2021. That month, Hit Network was founded as a media company and Armstrong became the host of its flagship show.
Unstable exit
Armstrong remained with the company until August 2023, when he was fired by current CEO TJ Shedd over drug abuse allegations (Armstrong later admitted to using diet pills and steroids, but denied using hard drugs). After his departure, Armstrong was arrested for allegedly showing up at a former business partner’s home to reclaim a disputed Lamborghini. He is currently suing the Hit Network over his departure and the car.
Armstrong said in a statement that his former associates took financial control of the BitBoy Crypto brand in 2020 and made a variety of accusations similar to those he made online. He said he “could not be happier” about the subpoena.
“All I’ve asked for over a year is for people to listen to me,” Armstrong told The Block. “Pretty much everyone in this industry has betrayed me. And now a lot of those people are starting to feel the weight of that betrayal, because a lot of them are going to end up connecting.”
Armstrong regularly hosted YouTube videos while at the company, recommending tokens that he said would make his audience rich, but most of those tokens ended up going down in price instead. The YouTuber has admitted to doing paid promotions for cryptocurrency scams, but claims it was accidental. He once paid blockchain detective ZackXBT $10,000 to show that he had done undisclosed promotions in the past.
One of the tokens listed in the summons is a mimecoin called BEN, which was created on May 5, 2023 by an influencer under the pseudonym ben.eth. A few days later, Armstrong said he had joined the token’s core team. On June 5, he parted ways with the project, but took over as CEO himself earlier this year.
According to sources close to Hit Network, Armstrong’s memecoin-related activities were one of the reasons he left the company, as others at the company did not want the token to be part of the company’s business.
Hit Network declined to comment for this article. The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment.
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