A prominent crypto influencer known as “Professor Crypto” is under fire after being accused of using bots to inflate his social media presence, following his recent win of a “best content creator” award at the DeGen Summit in Singapore. The influencer, who has over 1.34 million subscribers on YouTube, has yet to address the allegations publicly but has deleted several celebratory posts related to the award.
Allegations of Bot Use
The accusations were raised by blockchain investigator “ZachXBT,” who claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that Professor Crypto manipulated his follower count using “thousands of bots” to create a false sense of influence. ZachXBT also hinted that these actions could potentially violate Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules in the United States, which prohibit the sale or purchase of fake social media metrics like followers or views generated by bots.
Following the accusations, Professor Crypto removed multiple posts on X where he had shared his excitement over winning the award at the DeGen Summit, a side event of the larger TOKEN2049 conference, which honors Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in the crypto industry.
Industry Reactions
The allegations have sparked discussions within the crypto community, with some commentators questioning Professor Crypto’s prominence. NFT artist Matthew Varnell expressed confusion, asking, “Who the hell is Professor Crypto?” Laurence Day, co-founder of Wildcat Labs, echoed a similar sentiment, stating, “I have been here longer than the stars have burned, and I have precisely one mutual with this account.”
Adding to the scrutiny, Web3 investigator “Pix” pointed out unusual activity on Professor Crypto’s X account, which was created in February 2018. The account has 132,000 followers but has made only 102 posts, with the earliest dating back to August 14, 2023. Moreover, only two of those posts were authored directly by Professor Crypto, raising further doubts about the authenticity of his influence.
Professor Crypto’s Background and Content
Despite the current controversy, Professor Crypto has been active in the crypto space for at least six years. He launched his YouTube channel in August 2018 and has gained a significant following by reviewing crypto exchanges, wallets, trending memecoins, and non-fungible token (NFT) projects.
In the days leading up to the DeGen Summit, Professor Crypto shared videos on X from his flight to Singapore, where he was seen with other crypto influencers. However, he has remained silent on the bot accusations and has not responded to media inquiries.
