The US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating Hit Network, the former company of crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, popularly known as BitBoy. Details of the investigation became public today with the news that the regulator issued a subpoena to the company over potential fraudulent activities.
The investigation centers on the trading activity of 15 tokens, including BEN memecoin. BitBoy promoted all these coins on his YouTube channel. However, he has described the investigation as a vindication against Hit Network.
CFTC investigates potential fraud in memecoin trading
According to media reports, the Commission issued a subpoena to the crypto media company on July 16. The regulator wants information about the trading activity and digital wallets associated with 15 tokens. The subpoena indicated that the request is part of an investigation into likely fraudulent acts of some individuals using cryptocurrencies.
While the subpoena didn’t mention Armstrong (BitBoy), the crypto influencer is directly connected to all the tokens as he had promoted 14 of those tokens in his videos before the formation of Hit Network. In one video, BitBoy touted one of the tokens as having the potential to rise 100x in price.
Following Hit Network’s creation in March 2021, BitBoy hosted the platform’s flagship show and its public face. However, he left the company in August 2023 after CEO, Timothy ‘TJ’ Shedd, removed him due to substance abuse and other reasons.
Armstrong had denied this allegation, stating that he only took diet pills and steroids, not cocaine, and other substances, as alleged. Since leaving the firm, the crypto influencer has instituted a lawsuit against the company and was arrested for trying to forcefully reclaim a Lamborghini from his business partner that he claims belongs to him.
BitBoy describes subpoena as vindication
Following the news of the subpoena, Armstrong took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his joy, noting that he had been calling for an investigation into the company for almost a year. He added that there was no mention of him at all in the subpoena, which further proves his innocence. He wrote:
“I’ve been SCREAMING for an investigation on the fraud by ‘The Core 4’ and the entire team at @HitNetwork_ for 11 months. Finally, they have received the CFTC subpoena. Next will be the SEC.”
He even thanked the CFTC and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for listening to him when people in the crypto space refused to investigate his allegations. However, there are still speculations that he might be involved, given that his BEN token was specifically mentioned, and he has promoted all 15 tokens.
Armstrong explained that this investigation is likely because of Hit Network’s attempted manipulation of BEN’s price. The crypto influencer claimed that the Hit Network team bought and sold “a bunch of BEN coins to control the price.”
On the other tokens he promoted before the formation of Hit Network, BitBoy said everything would soon become clear. Still, there are also speculations he might have been in the direction of others. The crypto influencer claimed before that he had lost financial control of the BitBoy brand in 2020.
