On Wednesday night, the BBC was set to air a program about a “self-made crypto millionaire” on We Are England’s “Bossing It” series which highlighted entrepreneurs around the country. But hours before the 7:30 air time, the 30-minute feature was yanked, as was an accompanying article on the BBC homepage that introduces the program’s subject: Hanad Hassan, a 20-year-old from Birmingham who claimed he turned an investment of $50 (£37) into $8m (£5.9m) within just nine months — a return of nearly 16,000,000 percent.
It’s an eyebrow-raising statistic — and a number that should prompt some thorough research. But somehow, the BBC missed some crucial and decidedly dodgy details. When Jim Watterson, media correspondent for The Guardian, raised concerns about the program, it was replaced with a different segment. The BBC also deleted its flattering coverage of the subject, which is archived here.
