Professional esports team FaZe Clan, famous for their incredible skill in a variety of games on Twitch, has hit the headlines as a result of an alleged cryptocurrency scam promoted by four of their members.
Cryptocurrency is the latest thing amongst streamers and influencers, and the enormous range of digital assets out there shows that this alternative form of currency isn't going away. Dogecoin is a favourite of Elon Musk's, and Space-X will accept Dogecoin as a form of viable payment for its products, yet his comments on Saturday Night Live on the volatility of the currency caused its value to nosedive in a matter of hours.
Furthermore, the power needed to maintain bitcoin's network across the globe is approximately equivalent to the energy footprint of Argentina, and demand for GPUs that mine bitcoin has led to stampedes at stores. Well, thanks to a little ingenuity, you don't actually need the swishiest tech to mine bitcoin. A Game Boy will work just fine if you've got the patience.
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Check out our collection of the most unbelievable wins while live on Twitch... and the most hilarious of fails.
"FaZe Clan had absolutely no involvement with our member's activity in the cryptocurrency space," said the esports organisation in a statement shared on Twitter. "We strongly condone their recent behavior. The trust and respect of our fans has been, and will always be, our number one priority." Jarvis "FaZe Jarvis" Khattri, Nikan "FaZe Nikan" Nadim and Jakob "FaZe Teeqo" have been subjected to suspensions from FaZe Clan because they allegedly were paid to advertise the "Save The Kids" altcoin to their millions of followers before dumping their investments.
This is known as a "pump and dump" scam. In promoting the currency, the value of the asset is artificially inflated ahead of a crash which is planned by those organising the scam. As a result, those in the know generate a massive profit and those who were unaware are left with a comparatively worthless currency. It isn't illegal but it is extremely sketchy, especially if streamers who already have lots of money in the bank are involved.
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Frazier "FaZe Kay" Khattri was dropped by FaZe for his part in the "Save The Kids" scandal. "I didn't vet any of this with my team at FaZe and I now know I should have," said FaZe Kay in an apology on social media. "It was so irresponsible of me to speak publicly about any coins without knowing more & knowing now that they can do more harm than good." Fans are shocked that FaZe Kay has seen a more severe sanction than FaZe Jarvis, FaZe Nikan and FaZe Teeqo, and are awaiting the organisation's response to founder and co-owner FaZe Banks' promotion of BankSocial earlier this year.
