There are allegations against former influencers of the online shooter “Fortnite“: Big YouTubers and Twitch streamers like Faze Jarvis, Ricegum, or FaZe Kay allegedly promoted the cryptocurrency “Save the kids.” However, the coin turned out to be a poor investment and quickly lost value.
This is the situation:
- A YouTuber has raised allegations that major gaming influencers like Ricegum, FaZe Jarvis, and FaZe Kay promoted the cryptocurrency “Save the kids.” They recommended their millions of followers on Twitter to invest in the coin. They even acted as brand ambassadors for the cryptocurrency.
- The coin “Save the Kids” rose from an entry value of 0.0025€ to a peak value of 0.0036€. However, the coin then fell within a few days to 0.001€ and remained at that value: Those who followed the influencers’ advice and invested at the coin’s launch lost a lot of money.
- The influencers have since deleted their promotions for the currency – only one streamer has apologized to the fans for the action.
Here are the allegations: The YouTuber “SomeOrdinaryGamers” summarized the events. He found and utilized deleted tweets from influencers like FaZe Jarvis or Ricegum in which they promoted the coin “Save the kids.”
The joke of the coin “Save the Kids” is that a very small percentage of the sales is used for child-friendly and charitable purposes.
In the tweets, Ricegum or Faze Jarvis, known primarily from Fortnite, introduced themselves as “ambassadors” of the coin. They urged their followers to invest at the launch of the coin on June 5th. These tweets reached thousands of followers on Twitter and have since been deleted.
Influencers allegedly promoted a “Pump and Dump” scheme
This is the accusation: The YouTuber does not claim that the influencers directly deceived anyone, but he accuses them of having used their “influence” to push a bad deal onto their followers. They allegedly promoted a “Pump and Dump.”
This is how a “Pump and Dump” works:
- In a “Pump and Dump,” insiders buy a stock or cryptocurrency very cheaply, which has little value at that time.
- Then they massively promote the stock or cryptocurrency or commission advertising for it.
- Many users then buy the product, and the price shoots up rapidly because the demand suddenly becomes huge – this is the “Pump.”
- A product that quickly gains value attracts the attention of many buyers who believe there is quick money to be made. They jump in as the price rises, further driving up the price.
- The insiders ultimately sell their vast amounts of the product at a peak price, which they had purchased cheaply before the “Pump.”
- As a result of this sudden oversupply of the product in the market, the price of the product drops rapidly – this is the “Dump.”
The insiders who bought cheaply and sold expensively are the winners of such “Pump and Dumps.”
However, those who bought at a high price and missed the moment to sell at a profit are left with the now almost worthless product and can only sell it at great losses.
The YouTuber does not claim that the influencers intentionally deceived their followers, but he points out that YouTubers like Ricegum have always been noted for unethical behavior.
Streamer “FaZe Jarvis” is also known for cheating in Fortnite and getting banned for life from the game.
An influencer apologizes to fans: Did not mean any harm
This is the reaction now: Influencers Ricegum and FaZe Jarvis have not commented on these allegations. Their tweets have now been deleted.
FaZe Kaye takes responsibility. He apologizes to his fans. He did not mean any harm and naively recommended a coin he thought would be a good deal for everyone. However, he did not discuss it with anyone in the FaZe clan. That was irresponsible. His fans mean everything to him – he is sorry.
Twitter users, however, see this critically. They believe he intentionally sold them out to make money. And that, at that moment, advertising money was more important to him than the trust of his fans.
- One user says: “Yes, you really scammed me with Kids badly, and not just that. I got 20 of my closest friends to invest, and they all lost over $50,000.”
- Another user accuses FaZe Kaye: “You knew all along that the ‘coin schemes’ you promote are Pump and Dumps. You’ve been on the internet long enough. Your apology is worthless.”
- A third user says: “I drew the short straw with Kids, but ultimately it was my decision to invest. It taught me a valuable lesson. I will never forget it. You are forgiven.”
This is what it’s about: When investing in stocks or cryptocurrencies, it’s about a lot of money. Therefore, influencers have a particularly great responsibility when they talk about such topics to their followers who trust them.
Transparency is also important in such matters: Why is the influencer recommending me the product? Is he being paid for it? Is he himself invested in the product? What is behind it?
Update 7.2.2021, 13:03: Meanwhile, the case has had repercussions, at least for the members of FaZe:
Fortnite: FaZe suspends 4 YouTube millionaires for pushing a bad crypto coin onto fans.
