Carlos Matos: 'HEY HEY HEY! BITCONEEEECT!'

In October 2017, Bitconnect held a conference in Pattaya, Thailand. Promoter Carlos Matos took the stage and delivered what became the most famous speech in cryptocurrency history.

"HEY HEY HEY! WASSA WASSA WASSA! BITCONEEEECT!" He screamed. He gyrated. He told the audience his wife didn't believe in him but Bitconnect changed his life. The crowd went wild.

The speech has been viewed over 30 million times. It has been remixed, auto-tuned, and memed into immortality. It is simultaneously the funniest and saddest video in crypto because the people cheering in that audience were about to lose everything.

Two months after the conference, Bitconnect collapsed 96% in a day. Texas and North Carolina regulators issued cease-and-desist orders. The "proprietary trading algorithm" that guaranteed 1% daily returns turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. Over $2.6 billion was stolen from investors worldwide.

The legal fallout took years. Promoter Glenn Arcaro pled guilty and was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison. He also agreed to pay $24 million in restitution. But the founder, Satish Kumbhani, was indicted by a federal grand jury and promptly vanished. The FBI listed him as wanted. As of 2026, Kumbhani has never been found. An Indian national last seen in India, he is believed to be hiding somewhere in South or Southeast Asia.

Matos himself pivoted to the NFT space and became a crypto influencer, claiming he was also a victim. Whether you believe that depends on how much money he made from recruiting.

The speech endures because it captures everything about crypto mania: the religious fervor, the willful suspension of disbelief, the charismatic promoters, and the inevitable crash. Every future Ponzi scheme in crypto is measured against the Bitconnect standard.