Meet ‪William Banks, the man who rugged $50k in crypto for Palestine and escaped from prison‬

William Banks, an artist and comedian from New York, pulled off one of the most chaotic crypto stunts in history—rugging $50,000 from a meme coin, donating it to Palestine, and breaking out of jail.

His name has flooded X (formerly Twitter), with some calling him a scammer and others hailing him as Robin Hood. Either way, the story is real, and it all played out in real-time on social media, proving once again that there is no place more entertaining than the crypto community.

So, who is William Banks exactly?

William, known for his unhinged performances in short films and underground comedy, made headlines in February after launching a Solana-based meme coin called White Moses (MOSES) on Pump.fun.

Investors poured money into the project, causing its market cap to skyrocket to $257,000 in under an hour. Then, just as fast, William dumped his holdings, tanking the price and leaving investors with nothing.

He later deleted all posts promoting the coin and posted on X, saying, “William Banks is Robin Hood. Thank you to the crypto community for buying my pretend memecoin and helping me to raise $50,000 for the crisis in Gaza. Free Palestine.”

William also shared five separate receipts showing $10,000 donations to various Palestinian charities. Some organizations confirmed receiving the money, while others were still yet to comment as of press time.

The internet went into full meltdown mode. Some accused him of fraud. Others called him a hero. Political commentator Eden Riley posted on X, “He escaped from jail only to immediately rug-pull a bunch of crypto bros to donate the money to Palestine… he might be the greatest to ever do it.”

Escaping from jail and going viral

William’s crypto stunt came just weeks after his prison escape, which was also documented on X. He had been arrested in Connecticut for allegedly stealing and throwing away five Israeli signs from people’s yards.

He was sentenced to eight months in jail in October 2024, posting before his trial, “Hey I just want to be honest with everyone. I’m facing some pretty serious charges in the state of Connecticut that could result in my imprisonment. My trial is tomorrow and I might be going away for a little bit.”

Two days later, he hilariously updated his followers: “I have terrible news. The state of Connecticut has sentenced me to 8 months in jail beginning on Nov 15. I have always tried to make the most out of my life, but today I am presented with an overwhelming challenge to overcome.”

While behind bars, William continued posting on X, gaining a cult following for his bizarre content. But what happened next defied reality. A riot broke out inside the jail, and in the chaos, William escaped.

William later posted a video reenactment, showing himself crawling under a fence, racking up over 20 million views. By the time authorities realized he was gone, he had already moved on to his next scheme—crypto. How amazing is that?

Life on the run with a girlfriend and a fanbase

Despite being a fugitive, William is still active online, and he’s not hiding. He’s been posting videos with his new girlfriend, a mystery “baddie” who appears in clips laughing, dancing, and even smoking with him.

Cryptopolitan would describe their content as “bizarre”, but neither us nor William’s followers can look away. And X users have mixed reactions to his chaotic rise to fame. One person wrote, “William Banks got an 8-month jail bid for stealing Israel signs out of people’s yards, does 4 months, says fuck it, becomes White Moses and orchestrates a breakout. My new greatest of all time.”

Another guy posted, “William you have to stop. You smoke too tough. Your swag is too different. Your girl is too bad. They’ll kill you.” This one guy humorously said, “Nothing against William Banks but any time I see a guy with a beautiful girlfriend I hope he gets hit by a car.”

But others believe it’s nothing but a bit, with one guy saying, “Can’t wait to watch William Banks get shot in the neck before bleeding out in an efficiency apartment on some random account’s live stream two days from now. (I’ll be smiling quietly because I’m a special smart boy and I know it’s a bit).”

Cryptopolitan has reached out to William for a comment, and will promptly publish an update if he responds. For now, the hero remains free, still posting, still dodging the law, and with a fanbase that’s watching his every move, including the author of this article.

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