FaZe Clan is as soon as once more reeling from drama, and this time the harm may be longer-lasting. Decrypt notes that FaZe has punished 4 gamers for alleged involvement in a pump-and-dump scheme involving the Save the Kids cryptocurrency challenge. The eSports crew suspended Jarvis (pictured), Nikan and Teeqo, and has completely eliminated Kay from the group.

Save the Kids (aka KIDS) was pitched as a charity that might donate 1 % of every transaction price (which itself is 3 % of the whole transaction) to a child-oriented basis. The creators obtained influencers at FaZe to advertise KIDS forward of its launch in early June, solely to observe as the value crashed by nearly 90 %.

The affected clan members have denied any deliberate involvement. Kay said he had “no ill intent” in selling KIDS, and that he made a mistake in taking part with out vetting the hassle with the crew.

This is not even the primary time FaZe crew members have confronted accusations of becoming a member of in scams. Kay and clan co-founder have been paid to advertise one other coin, BankSocial, in May — solely to promote shortly earlier than exiting the partnership. Banks did not reveal the monetary connection in Twitter posts he has since deleted.

The crackdown highlights the rising variety of eSports gamers earning money outdoors of aggressive gaming, each individually and as a crew. Gucci made a Fnatic-badged dive watch, as an illustration. While it is not shocking given how gamers are rapidly gaining the form of superstar standing generally related to standard sports activities stars, that opens them to comparable temptations.