The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is looking into cryptocurrency scam activity by unknown individuals, possibly involving 15 tokens including memecoin BEN.

The agency issued a summons on July 16 to Hit Network, the crypto-focused media company that previously had Ben Armstrong (known as “BitBoy”) as its public face. face. The summons requests information about trading activity and digital wallets connected to the 15 tokens. This is part of an investigation into people committing fraud related to digital currencies and related illegal acts.

Armstrong introduces all the tokens mentioned in various videos. For example, according to the title of a YouTube video, one of them has the potential to increase in price 100 times. The summons request did not mention Armstrong.

Videos mentioning tokens – excluding BEN – were made on or before March 2021 under the BitBoy Crypto brand. That month, Hit Network was founded as a media company and Armstrong was their top host.

Dramatic departure

Armstrong joined the company until August 2023, when he was fired by current CEO T.J. Shedd alleged substance abuse (Armstrong later admitted to taking diet pills and steroids but denied taking hard drugs). After his departure, Armstrong was arrested for going to a former business partner's house hoping to reclaim the disputed Lamborghini. He is currently suing Hit Network over his departure and the vehicle.

In a statement, Armstrong claimed former colleagues took financial control of the BitBoy Crypto brand in 2020 and made various allegations about them, similar to those he had made online. He said he “couldn't be happier” about the summons.

“All I've asked for over a year is for everyone to listen to me. Everyone in this industry almost turned their back on me. And now, many of them will begin to feel the weight of betrayal because many of them have finally colluded with each other.”

While at the company, Armstrong regularly made YouTube videos in which he recommended tokens that he said would make his audience rich — although many such tokens instead dropped in price. . The YouTuber admitted to making paid ads about cryptocurrency scams, although he claimed this was just a coincidence. He once paid blockchain detective ZackXBT $10,000 to prove he ran undisclosed promotions in the past.

One of the tokens listed in the summons is a memecoin called BEN. It was created by a KOL nicknamed ben.eth on May 5, 2023. A few days later, Armstrong said he had joined the token's core team. On June 5, he parted ways with the project, but earlier this year, he took on the CEO position himself.

According to a source close to Hit Network, Armstrong's activities related to this memecoin were one of the reasons that led to his departure from the company. Others at the company don't want tokens to be part of their business.

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