Ben ‘Bitboy’ Armstrong fight causes wild swings in memecoin prices

BitBoy’s opponent ‘More Light’ told Cointelegraph after the fight he didn’t expect Armstrong to be so “amped up” during their match.

An organized fight on the weekend between crypto influencer Ben ‘BitBoy’ Armstrong and a memecoin developer “More Light,” was seemingly more than just a wild flailing of arms and legs. 

Their associated memecoins — Ben (BEN) and HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu ($BITCOIN) also whipsawed before and after the match.

The pair teed off against each other at a crypto influencer fight night hosted by combat sports company Karate Combat in Mexico on Feb. 24.

In an "only in crypto" moment Friday night in Mexico City, Ben "BitBoy" Armstrong fought against More Light, developer of the HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu memecoin. They were surprisingly well matched; here are the highlights. pic.twitter.com/N4qqr5zJM1

— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) February 25, 2024

Speaking to Cointelegraph, the pseudonymous developer of $BITCOIN known as “More Light” said he decided to take up the fight “on a whim” roughly four weeks from the event.

“I had told the organizer at Karate Combat randomly if BitBoy’s opponent drops out I’ll fight him. I only heard about the fight like 4-5 weeks ago and had been relaxing not training,” said More Light.

“So I had to get my ass in gear fast.”

More Light said he didn’t expect Armstrong to come out so “amped up” and was taken aback by him pulling crazy faces and swinging for the fences.

Memecoin swings an haymakers

According to pre-fight data from the decentralized betting app Polymarkets, the memecoin developer known as “More Light” was the crowd favorite in the lead-up to the bout, with 62% of bets being placed on the memecoin dev.

However, Armstrong managed to come out on top, being declared the victor by unanimous decision after three two-minute rounds of fighting.

Following Armstrong’s win, the price of $BITCOIN plunged more than 20% in 4 hours, falling from $0.052 to $0.040. The token has since rebounded and is trading at around $0.056, up 40% from the end of the fight.

Meanwhile, the price of an Armstrong-linked memecoin called BEN surged 87% following Amrstrong’s victory, spiking from $0.000004 to $0.0000075 in six hours. The price of the token has since fallen back to around $0.000005, per Dex Screener data. 

$BEN post bitboy fight haha god I love this space

(Ben token is ponzi) pic.twitter.com/cVWCoF009y

— cousin crypto (@cousincrypt0) February 24, 2024

Overall, More Light reiterated there was no bad blood between them in real life, and said that Armstrong was a “good guy” in person.

HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu is a memecoin project developed as a gag around the world’s largest crypto asset Bitcoin (BTC), co-opting the cryptocurrency’s full name as its ticker.

Related: Could Bitcoin ETF approvals spark memecoin bull run?

The fight also attracted various responses from crypto industry pundits, ranging from amusement to criticism.

“What circle of hell is this and why am I watching it,” wrote pseudonymous Helius developer Mert in a Feb. 24 post X.

Meanwhile, others pushed back against any praise being directed Armstrong’s way.

“No, Bitboy does not suddenly deserve respect because he won a karate competition,” wrote trader TheFlowHorse.

No, Bitboy does not suddenly deserve respect because he won a karate competition. “Ah, yeah, he left his family and ruined his life for all of us to see, one line at a time. But man, after winning that karate dancing contest, he really turned a corner for me.” pic.twitter.com/uj5AAk3ZuZ

— HORSE (@TheFlowHorse) February 24, 2024