William Banks' jailbreak shocks the crypto world! He meticulously planned a meme coin eyewash.

The William Banks prison break incident swept through the entire Crypto Assets community in early March 2025. This 27-year-old comedian and performing artist from Brooklyn, New York, raised $50,000 through a carefully planned meme coin eyewash and donated it all to a Palestinian aid organization. However, what truly made William Banks famous was not his charitable act, but his bizarre story claiming he escaped from a prison in Connecticut — which was later confirmed to be completely false.

William Banks' Strange Story: From Escape to $50,000 Meme Coin eyewash

The story of William Banks began in October 2024, when he was issued an arrest warrant for allegedly stealing five Israeli flags from a stranger's lawn in Westport, Connecticut, and was charged with sixth-degree larceny. William Banks subsequently announced on social media that he had been sentenced to eight months in prison and began posting “prison” videos on X, Instagram, and TikTok. These videos were filmed in what appeared to be a realistic prison environment, complete with cells, iron bars, and barbed wire fences, with William Banks and other “inmates” wearing dark blue and gray medical scrubs, and the footage having a grainy quality reminiscent of 2000s flip phones.

On February 20, 2025, William Banks released a video of himself escaping from prison with his “cellmate,” which went viral online, garnering over 20 million views. In the video, William Banks crawls over the fence amidst the chaos of a prison riot, with shaky camera work and dramatic tension. This video ignited social media, leading many Crypto Assets projects and influencers to reach out to William Banks, asking him to launch a meme coin, with some even creating tokens inspired by him and offering him large amounts of tokens.

William Banks subsequently launched a memecoin called “MOSES”. Investors poured funds into the project, causing its market value to soar to $257,000 within an hour. Then, William Banks sold off the meme coin he held, leading to a price crash, leaving investors with nothing. William Banks deleted all posts promoting the coin and posted on X: “William Banks is Robin Hood. Thank you to the crypto community for buying my fake meme coin and helping me raise $50,000 for the Gaza crisis. Free Palestine.”

William Banks subsequently shared five individual receipts, donating $10,000 each to various Palestinian charities. Some organizations confirmed receipt of the money, while others have not commented. However, Gizmodo first reported at the end of February that William Banks' prison incident was an “eyewash.” Public records show that there was a now-defunct Backstage casting event called “Jail Saga Reality Show,” published by a company that listed William Banks as a co-owner. The eight-month prison sentence, the escape video—all of it was fake, but those five $10,000 donations were real.

Why does William Banks hate Crypto Assets?

In an exclusive interview with Cryptopolitan, William Banks did not hide his disdain for Crypto Assets. “I don't like those guys. They took advantage of me, so I decided to take advantage of them too,” William Banks explained. He specifically mentioned an influencer known as “Coin Meme Advertiser” named Jester, who claims to be an expert, but William Banks said Jester was very nasty to him.

“I will never step into the realm of Crypto Assets again,” William Banks said firmly. He believes that Crypto Assets and their practitioners actually pose a “threat” to the world. “Crypto Assets are negative. They are just bad.” When asked if Crypto Assets can also contribute to charitable causes, William Banks admitted, “Of course, it's not all bad. There are some good people there, but most just want to be like Elon Musk; they are all single men who are indifferent to the current state of the world. I just want to be Robin Hood.”

Three Controversial Focuses of the William Banks Incident

The Ethical Issues of Prison Eyewash: William Banks meticulously crafted fake prison content, including hiring actors to play fellow inmates, with filming locations suspected to be abandoned detention centers or film sets, which has sparked ethical controversies.

Legitimacy of Meme Coin Scams: William Banks defrauded investors through a rug pull, and even if the funds were ultimately donated to charity, such actions may still constitute fraud under the law.

The Authenticity of Donations to Palestine: Although William Banks provided five receipts, some organizations have not confirmed the receipt of funds, raising doubts about the authenticity of the donations.

The Blurred Line Between Truth and Lies

William Banks contradicted himself regarding the authenticity of the jailbreak during the interview. “It's true,” he said bluntly. “Of course, I recreated the event, but it is true. It did happen.” However, Lieutenant Eric Woods of Westport has already refuted the jailbreak story, while William Banks vaguely explained that there are bigger things at play.

William Banks also mentioned his “cellmate” Ante, who they apparently served time and escaped prison together. Ante appears in many videos posted by William Banks on X and Instagram, where during the escape he referred to William Banks as “White Moses,” which is also the origin of its meme coin name. However, William Banks later claimed that he had a falling out with Ante, as Ante claimed to be the mastermind behind the escape, which led to William Banks being kidnapped and extorted. “But I still want to be friends with him,” William Banks said.

William Banks also has a girlfriend, Maddie, with whom he often dates during his “escape” period, relaxing, dancing, smoking, dining, and singing together at motels. Before the interview, Maddie's post on X hinted that the two might have broken up, but William Banks said, “No, we are still together. We are together right now.”

As the conversation drew to a close, William Banks revealed that he dreams of one day becoming a traveler, wanting to go to Africa and even Asia. Moreover, he is firmly opposed to Zionism and Israel. “But no, I will never step into the field of Crypto Assets again,” William Banks concluded. “I can't reveal too much about the whole thing; there are people around me taking care of me, ensuring that I don't get into any trouble. There's something big happening behind me.”