Here is how ‘CryptoWhale’ — or ‘WhaleCircle’, ‘BitHades’, ‘CryptoWelson’, ‘WelsonTrader’, ‘ParrotCapital’, ‘CryptoRandy’, ‘Bitmanny’, ‘RoryCapital’ or Jacob — has been using 3 strategies to earn money on Crypto Twitter. Don’t trust; verify.
Strategy A: Build a complex web of 12+ accounts and 34+ usernames, which are regularly renamed, swapped, … banned and reborn. [A1]
The Twitter profile of ‘CryptoWhale’ says that he signed up in January 2011. But has he been ‘CryptoWhale’ all along? Of course not. And is that account the only one that its owner controls at a given time? Not by a long shot! [A2]
The account that is ‘CryptoWhale’ today (and has been since January 18, 2020, with at least one interruption for a few days in July 2020), actually had the username ‘satosheye’ in the first two weeks of January 2020 and the username ‘JacobKinge’ in December 2019. [A3]
As ‘JacobKinge’, it listed the website ‘jacobking’ dot ‘org’. As ‘satosheye’, it used the display name ‘Jake K’ and claimed to be from Germany. Then, as ‘CryptoWhale’, it listed first ‘Germany’, then ‘USA’, and the websites ‘whalestreet’ dot ‘ca’ and ‘cryptowhale’ dot ‘org’. [A4]
At this point, we know that ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘satosheye’. [A5]
What about that short interruption on ‘CryptoWhale’ in July 2020? Well, for a few days, another account used the username ‘cryptowhale’. (Twitter ignores the case in usernames.) [A6]
It had surely been the same owner, because it took the username and gave it back to the other account within just a few days. But there’s always plausible deniability to some degree, where you can claim your account had been hacked (and perhaps restored by Twitter). [A7]
But, of course, there’s more to that ‘cryptowhale’ account from July 2020: It went on to use the username ‘CryptoWhale_’ for at least 3.5 months, and was finally renamed to ‘2805×6’. We’ll see many more ‘2805x’ accounts later, connected to various other known usernames. [A8]
At this point, we know that ‘2805×6’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘CryptoWhale_’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘satosheye’. [A9]
We also know that today’s ‘CryptoWhale’ is today’s ‘WhaleCircle’. Both still exist. We know this because both accounts are open about the fact that the latter is the backup account for the former. And, again, the latter has a longer history as well. [A10]
What has been ‘WhaleCircle’ since May 2020 or earlier was named ‘PolarGiveaways’ from November 2019 or earlier to January 2020 or later. Before that, around April 2019, the account was named ‘Bitmanny’. [A11]
‘WhaleCircle’ listed ‘Missoula, MT’ as his location and also used the display name ‘CryptoCircle’ for some time. And ‘PolarGiveaways’ hosted a ton of … giveaways. You guessed it. [A12]
At this point, we know that ‘2805×6’ = ‘Bitmanny’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘CryptoWhale_’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘PolarGiveaways’ = ‘satosheye’ = ‘WhaleCircle’. [A13]
Earlier, we learned that ‘satosheye’ turned into ‘CryptoWhale’ on January 18, 2020. But guess what, the username ‘Satosheye’ (again, case-insensitive) was immediately used by another account, who kept it for at least 10 months. [A14]
That other ‘Satosheye’, in February 2021 or earlier, turned into … ‘JacobKinge’. Yes, we know Jacob already. Usernames are constantly reused in this scheme. The account was named ‘JacobKinge’ until May 2021, when it became … ‘JacobOracle’. Another Jacob. [A15]
Before becoming ‘Satosheye’ and turning into the two Jacobs, that account had the username ‘SinkTrader’, around January 2020, and claimed to be from ‘Hong Kong’. [A16]
The two months before, in November and December 2019, the account was already named ‘satosheye’ once. Yes, this name has been recycled by the owner as well. But this ‘satosheye’ claimed to be from ‘El Paso, TX’ or just ‘Texas, USA’. [A17]
At this point, we know that ‘2805×6’ = ‘Bitmanny’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘CryptoWhale_’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘JacobOracle’ = ‘PolarGiveaways’ = ‘satosheye’ = ‘SinkTrader’ = ‘WhaleCircle’. [A18]
Oh, there’s another account using the two Jacobs’ usernames. And that is the ‘JacobKinge’ we know today. From November 2020 or earlier to February 2021 or later, that ‘JacobKinge’ was named ‘JacobOracle’ as well. He claimed to be from Canada this time. [A19]
The ‘SinkTrader’ username we’ve seen being used around January 2020 has also been used again by another account, just two months later: From March 2020 or earlier to April 2020 or later, ‘SinkTrader’ has been used by an account that had at least 6 other usernames: [A20]
From October 2018 or earlier to November 2018 or later, the account used the username ‘giveawaykeyy’. In early July 2019 or even before, the username ‘cryptowelson’ was used, with the display name ‘Welson H.’. [A21]
Later in July 2019 until August 29, 2019, the account switched to the username ‘WelsonTrader’, with the display name now just ‘Welson’, but claiming to be from ‘Chicago, IL’. [A22]
On August 30, 2019, the account was back at ‘CryptoWelson’, still with the display name ‘Welson’, but alternating between the locations ‘Chicago, IL’ and ‘California, USA’. It advertised the two Telegram groups ‘t’ dot ‘me/WelsonGroup’ and ‘t’ dot ‘me/GriffinTrading’. [A23]
Between January 2020 and November 2020, the account switched to ‘CryptoRandy’ as its username. At least in December 2020 and January 2021, the account was using ‘FoxContest’. And between January and June 2021, the account took its final name ‘2805×1’. Another ‘2805x’. [A24]
At this point, we know that ‘2805×1’ = ‘2805×6’ = ‘Bitmanny’ = ‘CryptoRandy’ = ‘CryptoWelson’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘CryptoWhale_’ = ‘FoxContest’ = ‘giveawaykeyy’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘JacobOracle’ = ‘PolarGiveaways’ = ‘satosheye’ = ‘SinkTrader’ = ‘WelsonTrader’ = ‘WhaleCircle’. [A25]
At least two of the usernames we already know have been used by yet another account, which was using a total of 8+ usernames. It all started with the username ‘giveawaykeyy’ (that we already know) from August 2018 or earlier until September 2018. [A26]
From October 2018 or earlier to December 2018 or later, the account took the identity ‘Jim_turnerr’, with the matching display name ‘Jimmy Turner’. From June 2019 or earlier to August 2019 or later, the account was known as ‘GiveawayKingg’. [A27]
From August 2019 or later to November 8, 2019, the account’s username was ‘MeekoTrades’. From November 9, 2019, to January 2020 or later, the account was known as ‘bitrandy’, with display name ‘Randy’, location ‘Portugal’ and Telegram group ‘t’ dot ‘me/raccoonworld’. [A28]
What followed in the succession of usernames for this account from March 2020 or earlier to October 2020 or later was the infamous … ‘BitHades’! Its display name was sometimes just ‘Hades’ (sometimes also fully uppercase). [A29]
In this ‘BitHades’ period, the account advertised at least two Telegram groups: ‘t’ dot ‘me/harveygroup’ and ‘t’ dot ‘me/hadesgang’. There was at least one interruption around June 2020 for a ‘2805x’ username that we already know: ‘2805×1’. [A30]
From December 2020 or earlier to March 2021 or later, the account’s last known username was then ‘RoryCapital’. [A31]
At this point, we know that ‘2805×1’ = ‘2805×6’ = ‘BitHades’ = ‘Bitmanny’ = ‘bitrandy’ = ‘CryptoRandy’ = ‘CryptoWelson’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘FoxContest’ = ‘giveawaykeyy’ = ‘GiveawayKingg’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘JacobOracle’ = ‘Jimturnerr’ = ‘MeekoTrades’ = … [A32]
… = ‘PolarGiveaways’ = ‘RoryCapital’ = ‘satosheye’ = ‘SinkTrader’ = ‘WelsonTrader’ = ‘WhaleCircle’. [A33]
Now, there are more connections from the ‘PolarGiveaways’ that we know: Around August 2019, the username was used via an account that was also known as ‘PaxonXBT’ from September 2019 or earlier to March 2020 or later, and who was allegedly from ‘United Kingdom’ or ‘USA’. [A34]
In the ‘PaxonXBT’ period, there was at least one interruption again: around November 2019 for the ‘BullOfBitcoin’ username. Around March 2020, the identity ‘PaxonTrades’ followed, and later ‘2805×5’, now at least the third ‘2805x’ username. [A35]
At this point, we know that ‘2805×1’ = ‘2805×5’ = ‘2805×6’ = ‘BitHades’ = ‘Bitmanny’ = ‘bitrandy’ = ‘BullOfBitcoin’ = ‘CryptoRandy’ = ‘CryptoWelson’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘CryptoWhale_’ = ‘FoxContest’ = ‘giveawaykeyy’ = ‘GiveawayKingg’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘JacobOracle’ = … [A36]
… = ‘Jim_turnerr’ = ‘MeekoTrades’ = ‘PaxonTrades’ = ‘PaxonXBT’ = ‘PolarGiveaways’ = ‘RoryCapital’ = ‘satosheye’ = ‘SinkTrader’ = ‘WelsonTrader’ = ‘WhaleCircle’. [A37]
At least the third time that ‘PolarGiveaways’ occurs is around September 2019, with another account that was using the identity ‘ParrotCapital’ from November 2019 or earlier to January 2020 or later. It advertised the Telegram group ‘t’ dot ‘me/parrotgroup’. [A38]
Considering that we have met three ‘2805x’ accounts so far, there is yet another small set of accounts that has three additional ‘2805x’ usernames. And there is more evidence that the accounts are connected: [A39]
On his website ‘cryptowhale’ dot ‘org’, our well-known ‘CryptoWhale’ wrote articles as … the mysterious ‘JohnRoberts2805’. So that ‘2805’ really seems to have some significance to ‘CryptoWhale’. [A40]
And, as mentioned before, ‘CryptoWelson’ advertised the Telegram group ‘t’ dot ‘me/GriffinTrading’. And the other set has some ‘Griffin’ as well. Now that’s a very strong ‘2805’ connection and a weak ‘Griffin’ connection. Let’s complete the final connections: [A41]
‘WallyCharts’, then ‘griffincharts’, and finally ‘2805×2’ is one account. ‘CryptoAzure’ and ‘2805×4’ is another. And ‘OrcaFdn’ with a hiatus as ‘2805×7’ is the last one. [A42]
After all, we now know that ‘2805×1’ = ‘2805×2’ = ‘2805×4’ = ‘2805×5’ = ‘2805×6’ = ‘2805×7’ = ‘BitHades’ = ‘Bitmanny’ = ‘bitrandy’ = ‘BullOfBitcoin’ = ‘CryptoAzure’ = ‘CryptoRandy’ = ‘cryptowelson’ = ‘CryptoWhale’ = ‘FoxContest’ = ‘giveawaykeyy’ = ‘GiveawayKingg’ = … [A43]
… = ‘griffincharts’ = ‘JacobKinge’ = ‘JacobOracle’ = ‘Jim_turnerr’ = ‘MeekoTrades’ = ‘OrcaFdn’ = ‘ParrotCapital’ = ‘PaxonTrades’ = ‘PaxonXBT’ = ‘PolarGiveaways’ = ‘RoryCapital’ = ‘satosheye’ = ‘SinkTrader’ = ‘WallyCharts’ = ‘WelsonTrader’ = ‘WhaleCircle’. [A44]
For these accounts, especially the most popular ones, having ‘login issues’ and being suspended by Twitter has been the obvious result of all this. See tweets 1341252096461574144 or 1280558380646649864 by ‘CryptoWhale’ or tweet 1349826600041394178 by ‘WhaleCircle’. [A45]
‘CryptoWhale’ has had his own Discord channel named ‘WhaleStreet’ (tweet 1264760988521377794 by ‘CryptoMotusX’ and tweet 1270012507902693376 by ‘k_filippop’). [A46]
And their own Telegram group was named ‘CryptoWhale’s Telegram Group’, available at ‘t’ dot ‘me/WhaleStreetx’ (tweet 1278631799816630272 by ‘CryptoWhale’, referenced in his profile in early October 2020, and on ‘cryptowhale’ dot ‘org’ in early March 2021). [A47]
Others have tracked the accounts of the ‘CryptoWhale’ web before, and were right about a lot of things: ‘reddit’ dot ‘com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/lyey8f/ivebeentrackingthesefakecryptofundtrading/’ [A48]
Strategy B: Grow an audience quickly, for free, with at least 18 fake giveaways as ‘CryptoWhale’ (totalling more than 315,000 USD) and at least 16 fake giveaways from 5 connected accounts (totalling more than 1,340,000 USD), each in one of two currencies (BT or RP). [B1]
Sep 2, 2019: ~48,787 USD (5 BT) in tweet 1168780413113982976 (as ‘CryptoWelson’) Sep 18, 2019: ~20,496 USD (2 BT) in tweet 1174308501230931969 (as ‘CryptoWelson’) Oct 2, 2019: ~12,481 USD (50,000 RP) in tweet 1179594085138669568 (as ‘CryptoWelson’) [B2]
Oct 3, 2019: ~12,673 USD (50,000 RP) in tweet 1179872679043764224 (as ‘CryptoWelson’) Oct 11, 2019: ~17,171 USD (2 BT) in tweet 1182907677803978753 (as ‘PaxonXBT’) Oct 20, 2019: ~7,998 USD (1 BT) in tweet 1185928492883632128 (as ‘CryptoWelson’) [B3]
Oct 24, 2019: ~7,510 USD (1 BT) in tweet 1187495920792932357 (as ‘PaxonXBT’) Nov 9, 2019: ~17,619 USD (2 BT) in tweet 1193332462660833281 (as ‘bitrandy’) Dec 4, 2019: ~36,601 USD (5 BT) in tweet 1202338256819380224 (as ‘CryptoWelson’) [B4]
Dec 25, 2019: 1,000 USD (~0.1365 BT) in tweet 1209879107447795712 (as ‘bitrandy’) Jan 18, 2020: ~26,782 USD (3 BT) in tweet 1218593942142251008 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Jan 21, 2020: ~86,590 USD (10 BT) in tweet 1219760381280706560 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) [B5]
Jan 27, 2020: ~23,053 USD (100,000 RP) in tweet 1221941427451547648 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Feb 4, 2020: ~46,464 USD (5 BT) in tweet 1224841158104272896 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Feb 24, 2020: ~89,294 USD (9 BT) in tweet 1231967766350942210 (as ‘Satosheye’) [B6]
Mar 8, 2020: ~445,411 USD (50 BT) in tweet 1236878064115535872 (as ‘BitHades’) Mar 11, 2020: ~23,730 USD (3 BT) in tweet 1237813344695975938 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Mar 15, 2020: ~260,054 USD (50 BT) in tweet 1239254117567979520 (as ‘BitHades’) [B7]
Mar 16, 2020: ~15,389 USD (100,000 RP) in tweet 1239554817015590912 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Apr 3, 2020: 200,000 USD (~29.4230 BT) in tweet 1246033330002411522 (as ‘BitHades’) Apr 10, 2020: ~146,076 USD (20 BT) in tweet 1248640748376993793 (as ‘BitHades’) [B8]
Apr 27, 2020: ~7,679 USD (1 BT) in tweet 1254844387844112384 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Jun 13, 2020: ~18,961 USD (2 BT) in tweet 1271796966188552194 (as ‘Satosheye’) Jul 6, 2020: ~9,073 USD (1 BT) in tweet 1280193851811127298 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) [B9]
Jul 11, 2020: ~4,639 USD (0.5 BT) in tweet 1281913449229017089 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Aug 27, 2020: ~1,149 USD (0.1 BT) in tweet 1298968508366290947 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Sep 3, 2020: ~830 USD (3,000 RP) in tweet 1301505221202513928 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) [B10]
Sep 23, 2020: 1,000 USD (~0.0949 BT) in tweet 1308742533745446913 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Oct 5, 2020: ~745 USD (3,000 RP) in tweet 1313093681382068224 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Oct 29, 2020: 1,000 USD (~0.0754 BT) in tweet 1321820971456671746 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) [B11]
Dec 22, 2020: ~5,168 USD (10,000 RP) in tweet 1341396142274334727 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Dec 24, 2020: 800 USD (~0.0344 BT) in tweet 1342179196962021376 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) Jan 25, 2021: ~16,143 USD (0.5 BT) in tweet 1353734379114139648 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) [B12]
Feb 9, 2021: ~44,766 USD (100,000 RP) in tweet 1359159354272940035 (as ‘CryptoWhale’) [B13]
Strategy C: Profit financially by recruiting ‘clients’ and making them transfer funds to be managed by a supposed ‘professional’, and offering ‘private mentoring’ in one-on-one conversations via DM/chat, usually on Telegram or Discord. [C1]
The most elaborate way the various Twitter identities described before have been trying to make money is by actually accepting real money from ‘clients’ and pretending to ‘manage’ it for them as in a (real) fund. [C2]
The two identities ‘CryptoWelson’ (supposedly the ‘CEO’) and ‘ParrotCapital’ (the ‘fund’) recruited ‘investors’ via a Telegram group named ‘ParrotCapital — CryptoFund’, available at ‘t’ dot ‘me/parrotgroup’ (or in preview at ‘t’ dot ‘me/s/parrotgroup’). [C3]
The investment ‘prospectus’ available at ‘t’ dot ‘me/parrotgroup/20’ or ‘t’ dot ‘me/parrotgroup/36’ has been telling investors: ‘To join our fund, we do require a minimum investment of 0.20 BTC.’ [C4]
On December 30, 2019 (document ‘20’), that would have been roughly 1,500 USD as a minimum investment, and on January 11, 2020 (document ‘36’), it would have been about 1,600 USD. The ‘fund’ advertised ‘Average monthly returns: 13.5%’ or ‘We Average 13.5% Monthly Profits’. [C5]
In January 2020, the ‘fund’ claimed to be managing more than $7,000,000 (‘AUM’) for ‘investors’. See tweet 1213353897290608640 by ‘ParrotCapital’. For evidence on the minimum investment, see tweet 1213299145068425219 by ‘ParrotCapital’ or the Telegram group. [C6]
Entering was easy, via a PDF form shared on Telegram via Google Drive: ‘Once you’re done the form, you are successfully invested into ParrotCapital’. The cost, if your capital was actually returned, was supposed to be ‘a 2% management fee, and a 5% performance fee’. [C7]
Another ‘fund’ that’s very likely to be connected is the ‘BitShore Crypto Fund’, available at ‘t’ dot ‘me/BitKrabs’ (or in preview at ‘t’ dot ‘me/s/BitKrabs’). [C8]
That second ‘fund’ made even bolder claims: ‘You can withdraw at any time you’d like. Theres also a small 9% profit fee, so you won’t ever be at a loss. My monthly profits change alot but range upwards of 100%!’ [C9]
Entering was just as easy, and the ‘fund’ used screenshots as contracts: ‘If you’re interested, send any amount for me to trade and profit, and than send a screenshot so I can confirm who sent it and how much was sent!’ [C10]
‘CryptoWelson’ was defending against critics and claiming to be in the process of ‘paying back investors’ around January 2020 (when ‘AUM’ allegedly reached $7M). See, for example, tweet 1218448056925900801 by ‘CryptoWelson’. [C11]
Moreover, ‘cryptowelson’ admitted to (and, in a way, claimed) having customer funds in his Binance account, which he could allegedly not access anymore. See tweet 1217938132164722688 by ‘cryptowelson’. [C12]
Apart from that crypto investment ‘fund’, ‘CryptoWhale’ has been offering a paid newsletter on ‘getrevue.co’ for $10 per month. That’s fine. But he has allegedly ‘always donated the proceeds to charity’. See tweet 1405277974060888066 by ‘CryptoWhale’. [C13]
Another (quite obvious and simple) way the various identities have been trying to make money is via ‘1 on 1 private mentoring’ on Telegram and Discord. See, for example, tweet 1245110802236964866 by ‘JoshMcGruff’. [C14]
As a payment for that mentoring opportunity, the accounts asked, in one example, for ~6,500 USD per year. This could be a good deal. But it’s usually fraud if you claim having ‘turned many people into millionaires from my mentorships’. [C15]
Another tactic was to just ask people in an informal way to manage their (crypto) assets for them and trade on their behalf, without setting up a ‘fund’. See, for example, tweet 1402780374351089664 by ‘42Chainlink42’ or tweet 1394078287564091395 by ‘thecryptomonk’. [C16]
That tactic is also detailed here: ‘medium’ dot ‘com/@robswc/people-give-100–000-worth-of-crypto-to-a-raccoon-on-twitter-who-then-proceeds-to-immediately-6c24bf87979 [C17]
Yet another tactic may have been selling a fake (trading) bot that could allegedly predict crypto prices. See tweet 1086759386264018944 by ‘thecryptomonk’. [C18]
Of course, bragging about how rich and successful you are is always part of the game if you want to lure in naive ‘investors’. See, for example, tweets 1215056173457477632 or 1394247566347456516 by ‘CryptoWhale’. [C19]
You don’t believe anyone actually fell for this? Don’t believe ‘CryptoWhale’ and other identities have had many loyal followers? They did (and still do), and their followers even helped him get his account back after it was suspended. Just search for ‘0188312210’ to see. [C20]
Some victims, critics or observers have supposedly contacted law enforcement already. See, for example, tweet 1125418336966168576 by ‘Socal_crypto’. But those various identities, accounts, and also deletions, certainly make things harder. [C21]
You can believe the denials (e.g. tweets 1262743278098583552, 1312928000766341120, 1242367754021277697 and 1286422034575171590 by ‘CryptoWhale’) and ignore his attacks against critics, or you can believe the facts and demand a response. Don’t trust; verify. [C22]