Cryptopolitan’s Exclusive: William Banks on Rug Pulling $50k for Palestine & Crypto Hatred

Cryptopolitan recently had an intriguing virtual sit-down with William Banks, a 27-year-old who juggles roles as a performance artist and comedian. This is the same William Banks who made headlines for rug-pulling $50,000 from a meme coin he created. And guess what he did with the cash? He donated it all to Palestine. Oh, and this all happened right after he supposedly broke out of jail – jail time he earned for removing pro-Israel signs from people’s lawns in Westport, Connecticut.
One of the first things William confessed to us was his outright disdain for crypto. He admitted the rug pull was completely intentional, but he insisted it was mostly fueled by pure spite.
So, why the crypto hate?
William explained that his crypto journey started after a video of him and his “fugitive” buddies supposedly escaping prison went viral on February 20, racking up over 20 million views. Crypto influencers came crawling out of the woodwork, begging him to launch a meme coin. Some even went ahead and created tokens in his name, showering him with massive amounts of the supply.
“I really don’t like those guys,” William told us frankly during our chat. “They were clearly trying to exploit my viral moment, so I figured I’d just use them right back.”
He specifically called out one influencer named Jester, a self-proclaimed “meme coin advertiser” who, according to William, was incredibly unpleasant to deal with.
“I’m done with crypto, like, forever,” William declared. He went on to say that he genuinely believes crypto and the people involved in it are a “danger” to society. “Crypto is just negative all around. It’s bad news.”
I couldn’t help but ask, “But can it really be *that* bad if it conveniently allowed you to donate a pretty hefty sum to a good cause?”
“Okay, yeah, it’s not *all* bad,” William conceded. “There are some decent people in the crypto space, sure. But most of them? They’re just Elon Musk wannabes, you know? Incels who couldn’t care less about what’s happening in the real world. I just wanted to play Robin Hood for a minute.”
About that “jailbreak”… is it the real deal?
Fair point. So, we shifted gears and asked the burning question: “Let’s get real. Was any of this jailbreak stuff actually real? Were you actually in prison, and did you really break out?”
“It’s real,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Okay, yeah, we recreated it, obviously. But the feeling, the idea – that’s real. It *happened* in spirit.”
We brought up the fact that Westport Administrative Lieutenant Eric Woods had already publicly debunked the jailbreak story. William just vaguely alluded to “bigger things” at play, but honestly, we at Cryptopolitan are pretty sure it’s all just an elaborate prank, a bit of performance art for the digital age.
William mentioned a “friend” named Ant, supposedly his cellmate during his prison stint. They apparently broke out together. Ant’s been featured in a bunch of William’s videos on X and Instagram. Remember the stunt escape? That’s where Ant can be heard calling William “White Moses.”
And *that’s* where the inspiration for William’s meme coin came from: White Moses (MOSES). But get this – after their escape stunt, William told us that he and Ant had a falling out. Apparently, it was Ant who was the mastermind behind the escape plan, and he wasn’t too happy about William taking all the credit. Things got so heated that William claims he was kidnapped and even extorted!
“But I still wanna be his friend,” William added.
William also has a girlfriend named Maddie, who’s been part of his “on-the-run” adventures. They’ve been spotted chilling in motels, dancing, smoking, eating, and just generally living it up.
Before we talked to William, Maddie’s posts on X hinted at a possible breakup. But when we asked William about it, he brushed it off, saying, “Nah, we’re still together. She’s right here with me right now.”
“Honestly, I can’t get into the nitty-gritty of everything,” he continued cryptically. “There are people watching out for me, protectors, you know? They wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. There’s something bigger going on behind the scenes.”
As we wrapped up our conversation, William shared a personal aspiration: he dreams of becoming a world traveler, exploring places like Africa and Asia. And he reiterated his strong stance against Zionism and Israel.
“But seriously, crypto? Never again,” he concluded, making his feelings crystal clear.
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