Over the weekend, a highly publicized battle unfolded between cryptocurrency influencer Ben "BitBoy" Armstrong and memecoin developer "More Light," capturing attention not only for the physical clash but also for the impact it had on their associated meme coins – BEN and HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu (BITCOIN). The showdown took place on February 24 at a crypto influencer fight night organized by combat sports company Karate Combat in Mexico. More Light, a pseudonymous Bitcoin developer, revealed that he spontaneously decided to participate in the fight about four weeks prior to the event.
Despite More Light being the crowd favorite, with 62% of bets placed on the memecoin developer according to pre-match data from decentralized betting app Polymarkets, Armstrong emerged victorious. After three two-minute rounds, Armstrong secured a unanimous decision win over his opponent. More Light expressed surprise at Armstrong's energetic demeanor during the match, stating that he had not anticipated such enthusiasm from his opponent.
Following Armstrong’s win, there was noticeable volatility in the prices of Bitcoin and BEN, the meme coin associated with Armstrong. Bitcoin's price experienced a sudden drop of over 20% in just four hours, plummeting from $0.052 to $0.040. However, the coin quickly rebounded and is currently trading around $0.056, marking a 40% increase from the post-fight dip.
Conversely, BEN witnessed a significant surge of 87% in its price following Armstrong’s victory, soaring from $0.000004 to $0.0000075 within six hours. Subsequently, the price of BEN retraced to approximately $0.000005, as per Dex Screener data. Despite the intense battle and its repercussions on the crypto market, More Light emphasized that there is no real-life animosity between the two parties and acknowledged Armstrong as a "good guy."
The event garnered mixed reactions from cryptocurrency industry observers, with some expressing amusement or disdain. Pseudonymous Helius developer Mert questioned the significance of the spectacle, while others, like trader TheFlowHorse, dismissed the notion that Armstrong's victory would elevate his reputation within the crypto community.
