Some social media influencers are being paid thousands to endorse cryptocurrency projects
Ben Armstrong says his crisis of conscience came in January of this year, when he realized he had to stop a business practice he — and a lot of other people in
Ben Armstrong says his crisis of conscience came in January of this year, when he realized he had to stop a business practice he — and a lot of other people in his line of work — had been engaged in for years.
Armstrong is one of the most-watched crypto influencers on YouTube. His channel, BitBoy Crypto, has amassed more than 1.5 million subscribers. For years, Armstrong said he accepted payments from crypto companies to tout their new products for his vast audience of subscribers. That’s a practice he says he now regrets because it led to some painful losses for his own viewers.
In the fall of 2020, Armstrong announced his partnership with a cryptocurrency called DistX, calling it his most trusted coin. He said the whole idea of DistX was to stop scams in crypto — but Armstrong said in the end, the project itself ended up being a scam. The project team rug pulled, meaning they worked to increase the market cap then disappeared — leaving investors holding the bag. The coin is now down 99%, valued at less than a penny.
While he was accepting paid promotions, Armstrong said he previously made more than $30,000 for a single endorsement, which included his promotional video for DistX, and could easily make more than $100,000 per month in promotions alone.
Armstrong now says he feels responsible for the losses suffered by his followers. “I mean, of course, I do,” he said. “I hate it when we talk about stuff that didn’t do well.”
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