The whole idea of "influencer culture" seems like something that was cooked up in a lab by the creators of social media platforms. The notion that certain individuals with reach are somehow the voice of the public because they get the most engagement is 100% what social media companies want you to think.
In recent times, crypto influencers have slowly morphed into either crypto community gatekeepers or Ponzi pushers that dump on their unsuspecting audience. Other times, they're pulling off coups and weird schemes like the one between Bitboy and Atozy.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think they planned it and I certainly don't think Atozy sent out the SOS to scam the general public. What I really hate in everything is the public nature of it and the underlying hubris about the whole thing.
I have run into a number of videos by Bitboy and for the most part, I skip them because the videos are either too long, mirror a common notion or I don't like his face. However, I find it fascinating that Bitboy would take out the time to actually file a lawsuit against someone because of their opinion and while I can't verify it, I dare say that the whole thing was just a pointless "show of force".
The story follows that Bitboy with government name Ben Armstrong was accused of shilling many frivolous with one particular scammy project, PAMP being shilled. Atozy was basically pointing out how these crypto influencers use their platforms to willfully shill obvious scams and then dump on their unsuspecting audiences like we already know.
It turns out Bitboy doesn't like being called out and proceeded to file a lawsuit against Atozy. According to Bitboy, the defamation lawsuit was basically put in place to strongarm Atozy to take down the video;
The crypto YouTuber outlined that he initially filed the complaint with the aim of getting Mengshoel to take the video down and suggested that he didn’t want to actually go through with the court proceedings.
Here's the thing though, Bitboy did in fact promote the said Pamp token and the token turned out to in fact be part of a scammy project. So, I'm not really sure what his grievances with Atozy is about.
Instead of taking the L like a man, he resorted to a flimsy scare tactic that backfired as the wider crypto community rallied to support Atozy with donations to enable him to lawyer up for the case. When Bitboy noticed that the scare tactic won't work and that Atozy was ready to rumble in court, he rescinded the lawsuit and claimed it was only meant to force him into removing the video.
Be discerning
Lets face it, many crypto influencers don't have more insight into the market than you do. All they have is a large audience that amplifies their voice. When one thing is said regularly, it starts to sound true and this is the case with influencers and their activities on social media.
I have no quarrel with someone looking for a big payday, Lord knows I am. However, I take exception to anyone that willfully shills a scammy project to dump on their audience.
"Look, this Twitter account has a million followers, so the person definitely knows what they're saying."
Crypto influencers know that despite all the disclaimers, people still don't want to do their own research and so they just buy whatever a popular dude with thousands of followers suggests they should.
I'm going to tell anyone reading this for FREE that your gut is 100% better than taking the advice of any random crypto influencer shilling projects online.
The truth isn't very marketable, so opinions like mine often get suppressed by all the noise. However, if this message reaches you, don't get caught up in all the madness. The crypto industry rulses have evolved but they haven't changed; all you have to do is do your own research, and don't invest what you can't afford to lose.
