The crypto trading entrepreneur, who had a loyal following on social networks, offers "financial freedom" through a so-called "Hustler's University."
A rather interesting debate broke out at a panel on the first day of Bitcoin Amsterdam — and it centered on Andrew Tate.
The crypto trading entrepreneur, who had a loyal following on social networks, offers "financial freedom" through a so-called "Hustler's University."
But in recent months, Tate has faced criticism for his violent, misogynistic videos — including ones where he appears to advocate hitting women and stopping them from going out.
He was later deplatformed from a number of social networks — including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — for violating their policies.
Tate's name was brought up during a panel called The Bitcoin Audience, which was held on the Sats Stage at the conference in The Netherlands.
An attendee had asked the panel whether there were any topics that they decided to avoid as content creators, which led podcaster Layah Heilpern to discuss her support for Tate. She said:
"I don't believe in cancel culture … I support Andrew Tate because I believe in what he says. Um, you know, he wants to empower them to be better. As a woman, I'd love to see men be better, right?"
This prompted McCormack to ask Heilpern whether she thought Tate was a scammer — with the What Bitcoin Did host describing Hustler's University as "basically a scam."
"He's creating controversial content driving people to his website and signing people up for substandard products, which are basically shit."
Heilpern dismissed the argument — and said "basically shit" was merely an opinion, adding:
"A lot of people find value from his content. Maybe it is substandard, but that's your opinion. A lot of people made a lot of money, and he's clearly a very intelligent individual. I think he knows what he is doing. Nobody's forcing you to buy it."
To applause, Heilpern went on to argue:
"You could say university's basically a scam — that's a lot more expensive. And I spent three years at university and that was a load of shit."
McCormack said that he agreed both Hustler's University and more conventional universities could be shit. Heilpern continued:
"At least with Andrew it's $50 a month or whatever it is, you know — pay it, don't pay it. Right now, they're selling liberal arts degrees that can't really get you very far and they're asking for millions on that after all the interest and all that crap."
Elsewhere during the panel, an audience member was given pretty short shrift. They asked the panel what excited them about Web3 — and which platforms they believed would allow them to actually own their content. McCormack bluntly said:
"Uh, nothing. It's a marketing scam … all Web3 projects have a shitcoin. Every single one … it's peer-to-peer bullshit."
Heilpern added that Web3 is being "incredibly centralized" — and in essence, will end up being much like Web2… albeit on the blockchain.
