Polk And Hellmuth Get Into Another Social Media Spat Over Crypto Controversy

Summary

• Polk and Hellmuth have recently been criticized for their involvement in controversial crypto projects
• Polk initiated the row when he threw shade at Hellmuth in a tweet
• The pair have since moved on from their latest Twitter dispute

A social media row has once again erupted between two of the world’s most prominent poker figures, Doug Polk and Phil Hellmuth.

This time around, both players engaged in a war of words over their involvement in cryptocurrency projects.

Who’s at Fault?

Polk had been promoting the cryptocurrency exchange CoinFlex on his social media channels for quite a while but in late June, the crypto trading platform came under fire when it paused withdrawals after an account allegedly went into negative equity.

The owner of the account, who was later exposed to be Roger Ver, a well-known crypto investor, allegedly failed to pay his margin trading debt. Ver has since denied he owed CoinFlex anything.

Polk has recently drawn some flak for his association with the embattled crypto exchange despite deciding to resign as an ambassador for the platform shortly after the scandal blew up.

I have stepped down as Coinflex ambassador.

Full statement: https://t.co/RVF374g2uK pic.twitter.com/tcLfS39SrE

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) July 2, 2022

Before the CoinFlex fiasco, Polk had been criticizing Hellmuth for endorsing Bitcoin Latinum, a new crypto project that was sued back in February over allegations of securities fraud. The Poker Brat made it clear that he’s a paid endorser of the coin. He promotes it but does not necessarily encourage people to buy it.

The 16-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner has continued to wear a Bitcoin Latinum hat during poker events (most probably due to his endorsement agreement with the coin), despite the ongoing lawsuit that its executives are facing.

In his latest tweet defending himself in the CoinFlex controversy, Polk appeared to throw shade at Hellmuth when he suggested that people should criticize him more for continuing to promote a cryptocurrency project accused of fraud. His tweet has gained a lot of mixed reactions from the poker community, including Nick Vertucci, co-founder of Hustler Casino Live.

People are coming after me like I’m the person at fault and/or this says something about my character. I stand by my decisions and I have done the right thing every step of the way. The difference between this and closing your eyes and wearing a bitcoin Latinum hat is tremendous.

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) July 9, 2022

In a now-deleted response to Polk’s tweet, Vertucci criticized the Upswing Poker founder and sided with Hellmuth on the issue. He later apologized for his aggressive comments, but the online altercation didn’t end there as Hellmuth fired back at Polk for comparing their involvement in crypto projects, reiterating that he never gave financial advice when he was promoting Bitcoin Latinum.

Polk insisted it was wrong to continue to associate yourself with an entity that is widely considered a “scam“.

I told you this personally before but will say it here as well.

Anytime a coin pops up that uses “Bitcoin” or “Ethereum” in the name. It’s a scam. The entire community knows this.

There’s only one Bitcoin $BTC https://t.co/CFTVgZlinj

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) July 12, 2022

Moving On

As of this writing though, it appears both players have left their arguments behind and got on with their respective lives. Polk also tweeted this week that he and Vertucci are back on good terms.