Everybody loves a delicious story.
The delicious story of the week for Crypto Twitter was Ben Armstrong (formerly BitBoy Crypto) and his firing, flameout and livestreamed arrest.
Crypto media treated the story with as much interest and enthusiasm as if it was FTX 2.0. At least, it felt especially so, because Armstrong — long a controversial figure before his unceremonious exit from the successful BitBoy Crypto channel on YouTube — had taken such pleasure in saying he (allegedly) ຮູ້ ex-FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried was a “scammer” since day one.
I’m not here to opine on what Ben Armstrong and his now-former business associates allegedly did or didn’t do, both recently and in the past — there’s plenty of Crypto Twitter fodder to churn through if you’re interested.
Instead, I want to dig into why this story captured the hearts and minds of crypto, and crypto alone, this week.
The phrase “there’s no press like bad press” seems apt here. Could it be that we are all secretly hoping for Armstrong’s public meltdown to catapult crypto again into the wider media universe?
Crypto-only media outlets tend to focus on the real meat of the crypto space. New innovations, launches, partnerships, regulation (and also sometimes, inexplicably AI) — in other worse, up-close coverage of straight news that’s really only important to the crypto circle. And we don’t expect anyone else to care.
The big exception, as I’m sure you are all waiting with baited breath for me to say, is the case of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. This was a story that made it beyond crypto media to the mainstream, and also a story that went beyond covering a run-of-the-mill crypto scam to tabloid-esque coverage of polycules.
The BitBoy story, salacious as it may be, has remained siloed within crypto media. Scrolling back through every single article covering the Armstrong/BitBoy this week, you can only find one non-crypto media outlet who took the bait, and their piece spells crypto as “crytpo.”
I’m not begrudging crypto media outlets a chance to pounce on a sensational story. The market has been exceptionally boring for the past few months — and there are only so many articles you can write about the supposed “end of the bear market.”
ອ່ານເພີ່ມເຕີມຈາກພາກຄວາມຄິດເຫັນຂອງພວກເຮົາ: Crypto ຕ້ອງໂຄສະນາ
But seeing the crypto world’s interest in the situation around Armstrong and BitBoy Crypto feels a bit like the masses grasping at straws of relevancy. It was definitely a terrible time for crypto when Bankman-Fried was the center of worldwide media attention, and the spotlight on FTX’s collapse did nothing to help crypto’s perception — but at least it was a hot topic that brought crypto an insane amount of mindshare.
If the plan is to repeat this situation, it’s not working. It doesn’t seem like Ben Armstrong and his antics have left a strong enough mark — nobody involved allegedly misappropriated billions of dollars, for example — to inspire books and TV documentaries, like someone else we know.
The Armstrong drama — and the attention paid especially — instead seems symptomatic of what I see as crypto’s often misguided superiority complex. The sheer audacity of the FTX tale took the world by storm last year. But we’re still nowhere near capturing that mindshare high again, especially not with smaller ລະຄອນ of crypto YouTubers and their Lamborghinis.
ຂ້ອຍບໍ່ສົນໃຈຫຼາຍກ່ຽວກັບເຕັກໂນໂລຢີ, ຂ້ອຍບໍ່ສົນໃຈຫຼາຍກ່ຽວກັບການເງິນ, ຄືກັນ. ຂ້ອຍສົນໃຈການຂຽນເລື່ອງລາວ ແລະເບິ່ງສິ່ງທີ່ແປກປະຫຼາດເກີດຂຶ້ນ. ແລະນັ້ນແມ່ນເຫດຜົນທີ່ຂ້ອຍຈົບລົງໃນ crypto.
ແຕ່ຍ້ອນວ່າຂ້ອຍຂາດຄວາມມັກໃນສິ່ງທີ່ crypto ແລະ blockchain ແມ່ນກ່ຽວກັບ - ການເງິນ, ເຕັກໂນໂລຢີ, ຄວາມເປັນສ່ວນຕົວ, yadda yadda - ຂ້ອຍຈະຂຽນແທນສິ່ງທີ່ຂ້ອຍສົນໃຈແທ້ໆ. ທຸກສິ່ງທຸກຢ່າງກ່ຽວກັບ crypto ທີ່ມີຫນ້ອຍທີ່ຈະເຮັດ. ກັບ crypto.
ນັ້ນແມ່ນສິ່ງທີ່ຄໍລໍານີ້ຈະເວົ້າກ່ຽວກັບ. ທັງຫມົດເລື່ອງ tangential ທີ່ອອກມາຈາກ blockchain ແລະຊ່ອງ crypto, ສິ່ງທີ່ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າຄິດກ່ຽວກັບພວກເຂົາ, ແລະວິທີການຂ້າພະເຈົ້ານໍາທາງມັນທັງຫມົດເປັນອະດີດທີ່ບໍ່ຄ່ອຍເຊື່ອງ່າຍໆໃນວັນນະຄະດີລັດເຊຍທີ່ສໍາຄັນ.
ມັນເປັນທີ່ຊັດເຈນວ່າ perch ຂອງຂ້ອຍເປັນຄົນພາຍນອກທີ່ເຮັດໃຫ້ຂ້ອຍເຮັດສິ່ງທີ່ຂ້ອຍເຮັດ: Opine ໃນທຸກດ້ານຂອງບັນຫາ crypto, ບໍ່ມີສາຍເຊືອກ, ບໍ່ມີຜິວຫນັງໃນເກມ.
ຖ້າທ່ານຕ້ອງການສົນທະນາ crypto ກັບຂ້ອຍ, ໃຫ້ອອກຈາກຫົວຂໍ້.
ຢ່າພາດເລື່ອງໃຫຍ່ຕໍ່ໄປ - ເຂົ້າຮ່ວມຈົດຫມາຍຂ່າວປະຈໍາວັນຂອງພວກເຮົາຟຣີ.
ຕິດຕາມການທົດລອງຂອງ Sam Bankman-Fried ດ້ວຍຂ່າວຫຼ້າສຸດຈາກຫ້ອງສານ.
Source: https://blockworks.co/news/bitboy-crypto-twitter-boredom