Adin Ross Accused of Crypto Pump-and-Dump, Denies Scam Allegations
Amid Adin Ross's crypto scam allegations, the Twitch star said his promotion of the MILF Token wasn’t a pump-and-dump. Here's what we know so far.
Aug. 25 2021, Published 11:25 a.m. ET
Despite social media accusations about his promotion of the MILF Token crypto, Adin Ross claims that he “never did” a crypto scam and “[hasn’t] done any scams.”
The Twitch streamer landed in hot water with viewers earlier this summer after promoting MILF Token on his channel and then disavowing “that MILF Token s—t” weeks later.
Ross went from streaming video games to promoting crypto.
Ross is famous for his Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K gaming streams. He has also hosted rappers like Lil Yachty and Blueface on his videos. He has sparked backlash with his homophobic jokes, Complex reported earlier this year. “To put it bluntly, his most recent (and most popular) shtick feels like an exaggerated version of a stereotypical teenage gamer who yells shocking things into his microphone for attention,” Complex writer Erick Skelton observed.
According to Dexerto, Ross was reportedly paid $200,000 to promote MILF Token and hyped up the token to more than 75,000 Twitch viewers.
MILF Token is billed as “a strong crypto coin backed with airdropped NFTs.” According to BTCPro, Ross promoted a giveaway offering MILF Token worth $10,000 to one lucky MILF holder, and that the giveaway was later canceled.
Ross admitted he “got paid a bag” to promote MILF Token and hoped his followers didn’t buy it.
Weeks later, amid chatter of a pump-and-dump scam, Ross distanced himself from the token, according to Dexerto. “That MILF Token s—t I did a while back, I already told you guys to not buy that s—t,” he said on a stream. “I got paid a bag to do that s—t. Like, I don’t give a f—k. I hope none of you guys actually bought it.”
Later, Ross claimed it “wasn’t a pump and dump” during an interview with The H3 Podcast. He also played a video in which he told viewers, “I’m not a financial adviser. I’m literally getting paid. I’m getting paid for this s—t, to be honest with you guys.”
During that same interview, Ross said it was a “really, really, bad promo” and the MILF price went down. YouTuber CoffeeZilla tweeted that “by focusing on price, Adin Ross ignores that scams rely on volume, not price. And when you compare the volume of trading the day of Adin’s promotion, the effect is huge.”
Coffeezilla added, “He got paid $200k to increase trading volume by millions of [dollars] to let the whales get out. The plan worked perfectly, and it was easily worth it for MILF Token.”
Ross claims his RiceGum beef isn’t an effort to “take minds off a crypto scam” he “never did.”
In a July 2 tweet, Ross responded to accusations that his drama with YouTube star RiceGum was a ploy to divert attention from a “crypto scam.”
“People think this s—t fake so I can take minds off of a crypto scam which I never did, haven’t done any scams,” he wrote. “So STFU.”
However, one Twitter user begged to differ. “You still accepted money even though you knew your young fans wouldn’t know any better and buy it,” that user responded.
Another user claimed that Ross “promoted a scam crypto to his impressionable fans, just to later say he ‘just did it for a bag.’”
After the gaming network OTK Network offered Ross a chance to play the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons on a stream, one person tweeted, “Nice, he’ll have more audience to crypto scam.”