Armstrong’s arrest happened just days after he admitted to having outstanding arrest warrants against him. Meanwhile, Crypto.com faced heavy backlash after reissuing 70 billion CRO tokens that were previously declared burned in 2021, which raised some serious concerns about decentralization and transparency. In contrast, Web3 gaming firm Immutable received positive news after the SEC officially closed its investigation into the firm without enforcement action.
BitBoy’s Legal Troubles Deepen
Crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, who is also widely known as “BitBoy,” was arrested in Florida. This happened just days after he publicly acknowledged that a warrant was issued for his arrest. According to the Volusia County Division of Corrections, Armstrong was taken into custody on March 25 at 7:18 pm local time and is listed as a fugitive from justice.
(Source: Volusia County Corrections)
Armstrong previously shared in a March 21 post on X that the warrants stemmed from emails that he sent to Cobb County, Georgia Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs while representing himself legally. He also claimed that Judge Childs deleted her social media accounts after the email exchanges. So far, Armstrong has not issued a comment regarding the arrest.
This is not Armstrong’s first run-in with the law. In September of 2023, he was arrested during a livestream outside the home of a former business partner whom he accused of withholding his Lamborghini. Earlier that year, Armstrong was also named in a class-action lawsuit that alleged he promoted Binance and its unregistered securities. The lawsuit was settled in August of 2024. As part of the settlement, Armstrong and NBA player Jimmy Butler agreed to a combined $340,000 payout without admitting wrongdoing.
Despite his many legal entanglements, Armstrong remained in the public eye. In February 2024, he participated in a fight hosted by Karate Combat in Mexico where he faced off against meme coin developer “More Light.” Armstrong won the match by unanimous decision and, according to More Light, left no hard feelings after the event, being described as a “good guy” in person.
Armstrong's troubles escalated even more in August 2023 when Hit Network, the parent company of the BitBoy Crypto brand, severed ties with him due to allegations of substance abuse and inappropriate behavior toward staff. Armstrong disputed the claims, and alleged that the separation was part of an internal power grab.
Crypto.com Faces Backlash Over Token Reissue
Meanwhile, Crypto.com is under fire from the crypto community after reissuing 70 billion Cronos (CRO) tokens that were previously declared burned in 2021. The controversy erupted on March 25 when on-chain investigator ZachXBT accused the exchange on X of undermining transparency and decentralization.
He alleged that the reissued CRO tokens accounted for 70% of the total supply and completely went against what the community was led to believe. “CRO is no different from a scam,” ZachXBT wrote, questioning why President Donald Trump’s media company would partner with Crypto.com instead of more established exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken after such a move.
The backlash came shortly after Trump Media reportedly signed a non-binding agreement with Crypto.com to explore launching US crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through Foris Capital US. Critics argue that reintroducing such a large volume of tokens into circulation could dilute the value of existing tokens due to basic supply and demand dynamics.
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek responded during a March 25 AMA on X, and claimed that the decision was made to support aggressive investment growth in the current political climate. He explained that the original burn in early 2021 was a defensive maneuver during a time of regulatory uncertainty, but circumstances have changed.
Marszalek also placed a lot of emphasis on the fact that Cronos and Crypto.com have operated independently for years and that reissuing the tokens is aligned with broader strategic goals. “This is what the community wants,” he said.
However, there are still many concerns about governance and decentralization. Some people allege that Crypto.com has undue influence over the Cronos blockchain's governance. On March 19, GitHub users claimed the exchange's validators control up to 70% of the voting power, which raised serious doubts about the legitimacy of the reissuance approval process. Laura Shin’s Unchained podcast reported that Crypto.com may control as much as 80% of the network's voting power, effectively rendering community votes irrelevant.
Adding to the controversy, Crypto.com previously described the 2021 burn as the “largest token burn in history,” that was aimed at fully decentralizing the network ahead of the CRO chain mainnet launch. The now-deleted blog post from February of 2021 celebrated the immediate destruction of almost 60 billion CRO tokens as a step toward true decentralization. It is only natural, then, that the recent reversal sparked accusations of betrayal and restarted debates about trust and control in the crypto space.
SEC Drops Investigation Into Immutable
Legally, things are going a lot better for other crypto companies. Web3 gaming company Immutable announced that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially closed its investigation into the firm without pursuing any enforcement action.
The company is known for its Ethereum layer-2 network Immutable X, and said in a March 25 statement that the decision concludes the regulatory scrutiny stemming from a Wells notice it received in November last year. The Wells notice indicated that the SEC was considering action over potential securities violations related to the 2021 listing and private sales of the IMX token.
Immutable’s president and co-founder Robbie Ferguson welcomed the news, and called it a major milestone for both the crypto and gaming sectors. According to the company, the SEC sent a letter of termination without elaborating on its decision to end the probe. Immutable added that the letter was unsolicited and seemed to follow a review of the information the company previously submitted to the regulator.
Immutable previously expressed its confidence in its legal position, especially after a brief call with the SEC during which the agency reportedly raised questions about a 2021 blog post. That post referenced a pre-launch IMX token investment at $0.10 per token before a 100-to-1 split, and the SEC allegedly questioned whether the post accurately portrayed a legitimate exchange of value.
Although the SEC has now backed off, Immutable still faces legal attention from the Rosen Law Firm, which is trying to build a securities class-action lawsuit using the Wells notice as a basis. Immutable dismissed the threat by saying it has no concern about the case.
The SEC’s decision to drop its investigation into Immutable is part of a new pattern under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has moved to scale back regulatory pressure on the crypto industry. Over the past few months, the SEC also ended investigations into OpenSea, Robinhood, Uniswap Labs, and Gemini, and dropped high-profile lawsuits against firms like Ripple Labs, Coinbase, and Kraken.
Immutable believes that the end of the SEC’s inquiry will help eliminate a major hurdle for the Web3 gaming industry.
