DANNY DE HEKThey call him “Digital Degen”—but his real name is Steve Colwill, and his YouTube Channel is a conveyor belt of financial ruin dressed up as crypto entertainment.

Over the past year, Steve has uploaded over 300 videos, pumping out endorsement after endorsement for some of the most obvious Ponzi schemes and DeFi scams in circulation.

Platforms like BitGem Finance, Beonbit, 13Q, MAO Global, and Meta AI Box—all promising ridiculous returns like “300% payouts,” “60% monthly,” or “3.3% daily”—have been cheerfully promoted on his channel, often with affiliate links and glowing reviews.

And while he insists “this is just gambling,” the structure of his content tells a different story: high-frequency uploads, referral incentives, and motivational commentary designed to lure in viewers, all under the thin veil of “personal opinion.”

But Steve Colwill’s activities go far beyond YouTube. One of the most damning sources of evidence comes from his private Telegram group, aptly named Digital Degens GAMBLING Group, which currently hosts over 400 members. In this group, Steve frequently shares exclusive voice memos, updates, and investment advice—not as entertainment, but as direct instructions on where to put money and how to maximise returns. We’ve archived more than 50 voice messages and obtained a secret video he recorded specifically for the Telegram community, offering financial guidance that directly contradicts his public disclaimers.

In one voice-recorded segment, Steve introduces his followers to Tetherbot.io—an invite-only platform that explicitly forbids YouTube or social media promotion. According to Tetherbot’s own terms:

“Any users, promoters, or third parties found publicizing or promoting TetherBot—whether through videos, advertisements, posts, or any other content—without proper authorization will face severe consequences. This includes immediate account termination and the permanent loss of all funds.“

Steve ignored this entirely. In the secret video, he admits: “This is just for the Telegram group… I’m not putting it on my YouTube channel and risking my account.”

He proceeds to walk members through the entire Tetherbot platform, describing the minimum deposits, bot activation steps, and even shares that he has a $250 active deposit, with plans to “up his bags.” His affiliate link (https://tetherbot.io/register/510562) is never mentioned in the video, but it’s embedded in his Telegram group and used to funnel referrals without oversight.

This isn’t caution. This isn’t transparency. This is deception. Steve tells his audience that “these are dangerous opportunities” but justifies his involvement with the logic that “if they’re paying, they’re not scams.” He downplays the risk, never fully discloses his own commission structure, and fails to explain that the money he’s earning comes not from sustainable revenue—but from new victims entering the scheme.

He claims not to be a promoter, but when you’re delivering investment advice in private channels, evading terms of service, hiding content from platforms, and profiting through secret links, you are no longer just “sharing a journey.” You are orchestrating financial harm.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t harmless fun. This is systematic Ponzi promotion, disguised as content, repackaged as entertainment, and served to a vulnerable online audience looking for financial hope.

Interview Request – Investigation Into Ponzi Scheme Promotions

When I reached out to Steve to give him a right of reply, he didn’t deny his involvement. In fact, his responses ranged from defensive to sarcastic—saying I’m “ridiculous,” calling this a “fun segment,” and finally claiming:

“I’m not taking you seriously! I gamble online and share projects I’m in. Oh no!! I makw content too!! I got yo.”

The truth is, Steve doesn’t just share these projects—he promotes them, links to them, profits from them, and when they rug-pull or vanish, he simply moves on to the next shiny coin. And there’s always a next one.

The deception isn’t just in what’s said—it’s in how it’s framed:

  • Platforms that just rugged are still visible on his channel with referral links.
  • Losses are downplayed, but earnings are celebrated in real-time “payout landed” thumbnails.
  • He positions himself as a community hero, exposing rugs—yet fails to acknowledge that he promoted them in the first place.

And who is he?

Thanks to archived websites, public affiliate IDs, and his own slip-ups, we know exactly who’s behind the mask:

Steve Colwill, formerly of Stemir Properties in London, Ontario, Canada.

He can be reached at [email protected]—which he confirmed through multiple replies where he ridiculed the investigation.

This isn’t the first time a scam promoter has hidden behind the “just sharing my journey” defense. But it might be one of the most prolific.

Make no mistake: Digital Degen is not a financial educator. He’s a content-driven affiliate marketer profiting off high-risk, unsustainable, and often illegal schemes. And while he laughs off the investigation, his viewers—the ones who did lose money—aren’t laughing.

Steve, you’ve had your right of reply. You used it to crack jokes.

Now it’s time for the public to see the full picture.

Over the course of his YouTube activity, Steve Colwill has promoted an alarming number of platforms, all with characteristics that mirror classic Ponzi and MLM schemes. One of the most heavily featured is Beonbit, which he’s called his “top project” while promoting daily returns of 1–3%, praising its “15+ months of flawless performance” and restaking cycles. Then there’s BitGem Finance, a Telegram-bot-driven platform promising up to 60% monthly returns, which Colwill repeatedly showcased through “live withdrawals” and reinvestment videos—despite the fact that the platform used a fake FCA license and a cloned domain to appear regulated. In video after video, he has endorsed 13Q, an AI auto-trading platform supposedly offering 25–30% monthly ROI with no lock-in period. These videos typically include updates on earnings, increased stakes, and claims that funds are “available daily”—yet there’s no verifiable trading activity or audited proof behind the scenes.

MAO Global is another regular feature, with Colwill boasting about “fast cycles,” “instant payouts,” and “restaking,” all while showcasing ROI figures between 3% and 5% daily. He calls this platform “a printer,” echoing terminology often used in Ponzi circles. Meta AI Box, meanwhile, is promoted as offering 300% on all plans. Multiple videos show Colwill celebrating his fifth, sixth, or seventh withdrawal, with zero transparency on what this supposed AI product actually does. Similar patterns show up in his promotion of Mauna Fund, which he claims pays out 3.3% to 3.9% daily, has been online for over five months, and is another “top performer”—yet there is no evidence of external revenue or a sustainable business model.

LegitMiners, a mining-based platform claiming 1.5% to 2% daily returns, is presented as a solid long-term bet. Despite being previously rugged and relaunched, Colwill continued to push the platform while stacking referrals and walking viewers through how to reinvest from their dashboard. Then there’s 2XBoost, where users are told they can earn 10–15% monthly “until they double their deposit”—a classic cycler structure with no actual product. His promotion of AITIMART is no less alarming, as he claims it offers a flat 1% daily return for 365 days straight, suggesting a 365% annual gain—a mathematical impossibility for any legitimate investment.

Other projects include Selwix, which Colwill says has tripled his deposit since July 2024, and Aurum, an “AI trading” platform promising up to 15.8% monthly ROI, again with no proof of trades or underlying activity. In Neuratech Global, he promotes monthly cashback figures of up to 35%, painting it as a potential “legacy project” with high upside. Treasure Island, a platform mixing crypto with reality TV and product sales, is hyped as a residual income opportunity—despite glaring signs of MLM-style manipulation and lack of product delivery. He even stretches into borderline wellness MLMs like LiveGood, which he claims is “not DeFi” but still uses the same recruiting mechanics. Finally, there’s IcoinPro, a trading education tool that he promotes with claims of high performance—another effort that walks the line between service and income scheme.

In every case, Colwill includes referral links, encourages viewers to follow his lead, and often reinvests live on video—creating an illusion of trust, consistency, and safety. The promotional structure is always the same: highlight recent payouts, dismiss criticism as FUD, and call out the project as a “top performer” until the inevitable rug pull or platform collapse. Then the cycle begins again with a new project, a new deposit, and a new batch of hopeful victims.

Of course, no scam promoter’s track record would be complete without a graveyard of failed projects they once pushed with full enthusiasm. Steve Colwill is no exception. Despite positioning himself as someone who “calls out rugs,” the reality is that he actively promoted many of these platforms before they collapsed—only to quietly pivot and pretend he was sounding the alarm all along.

Let’s start with Bridgeme, a Telegram-based investment bot that collapsed after just 26 days. Steve called it a “solid project” while collecting referrals—until it stopped paying and was labelled “pathetic” in hindsight. ZX3 and AcroTrade followed the same pattern: early hype, payout claims, and excited “this one’s printing!” videos, later buried under sarcastic rug-pull post-mortems.

Larant was another pump-and-dump casualty. Originally hyped for its “fast withdrawals” and “smart earnings model,” the project disappeared quickly, prompting Steve to call it a “s#it project” after the fact—without acknowledging that he helped funnel traffic to it in the first place. Rollex Investments, Delta Dex, and Lolex were all described in glowing terms initially, right up until the moment they stopped paying. Suddenly, they were “good runs,” “expected to fail,” or “part of the game.”

Let’s not forget Gerbi, Xelon, and Zermex Asset—platforms promoted as sustainable, stable, or transparent, then left to die in silence. When these platforms finally collapsed, Steve’s typical reaction wasn’t regret. It was a shrug and a chuckle—“that’s DeFi,” he’d say, as if he had no role in the outcome.

Some collapses were even dressed up with conspiracy-style commentary, like Bluewave Partnership and Billted Inv, which he accused of “selectively paying” while still downplaying his own promotional role. Others, like Vinaq, were written off as “cash grabs,” even though he originally pitched them as high-potential projects with solid fundamentals. Healthy Harvest, Niolic, Advetex, Sicamtech, Ventrobi, and Arbitrade Finance—all once given air time on his channel—are now nothing more than memory-holed thumbnails and abandoned affiliate links.

And in the spirit of plausible deniability, Steve conveniently labels many of these post-collapse videos as “awareness content.” But what he never mentions is the timing. In nearly every case, his warnings only came after users had lost money, never before. It’s a rinse-and-repeat strategy dressed up in disclaimers, cloaked in casual language, and defended by the age-old excuse: “It’s just entertainment.”

These aren’t one-off mistakes. They’re a pattern of willful negligence, driven by volume, affiliate kickbacks, and the illusion of due diligence. Steve Colwill isn’t just a guy who made a few bad calls—he’s built an entire persona around profiting from schemes that hurt real people, then walking away clean while others are left holding the bag.

Steve Colwill can try to laugh this off. He can post sarcastic replies, hide behind disclaimers, and tell himself this is all “just a journey” or “just content.” But what he’s doing has consequences. Financial consequences. Emotional consequences. Real people are losing real money after watching his videos, trusting his enthusiasm, and clicking his referral links. That’s not harmless. That’s not entertainment. That’s exploitation.

It’s not about whether he says, “This is gambling.” It’s about the pattern: promoting one high-risk platform after another, ignoring all the red flags, collecting commissions, and then pretending to be a victim of the system himself. Steve Colwill isn’t the guy who got burned once and tried to help others avoid it. He’s the guy who got burned, then turned around and started selling the same fire to everyone else.

He wants to position himself as someone who brings awareness—but awareness doesn’t come after you’ve helped people walk into a trap. That’s not education. That’s marketing. And no amount of disclaimers will change that.

If you lost money through Beonbit, BitGem Finance, 13Q, MAO Global, or any of the other schemes promoted by Digital Degen, I want to hear your story. Whether you were directly referred, influenced by his videos, or part of one of his groups, your experience matters. It could help others avoid the same fate—and it could be the key to getting justice.

Contact me via:

This isn’t about revenge. It’s about accountability. Steve Colwill has had his say. Now it’s your turn.

So what can we do?

I’ve already reported Steve to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and I encourage others to do the same here: antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca (or [email protected])

If you’ve lost money due to his promotions, report it. Don’t let these influencers profit while victims suffer.