FaZe CEO Ricky Banks is stepping away from the organization and “the internet” amid allegations of ‘scamming’ fans with the MLG crypto token.
Back in January 2025, Banks and several other FaZe Clan members invested in the MLG meme coin, making it skyrocket in popularity and value in the days after.
However, it wasn’t long until hype around the coin died down, and its value plummeted after thousands of investors sold off the crypto currency. Since then, many have claimed Banks and his crew “scammed” fans out of their investment by rug-pulling the token.
On Monday, July 28, a screenshot of a message from Banks in an MLG-related group chat surfaced on X, showing the FaZe owner blaming Kick streamer Adin Ross for the token losing value.
“Adin Ross f**ked this up, this community dumped on him buying,” he said. “Used him as exit liquidity. His ego got hurt, blamed Frank. Him and Frank got into it privately, Adin despises Frank and spins and drives a narrative about Frank selling.
“Somehow this falls on me and threads farm the whole situation spin it into me selling and dumping coins. When I ran the thing up from f**king $3m to $200m organically, top blasted multiple times, invested a f**k ton of money, and NEVER EVER SOLD.
“The only bad actor in this entire thing is Adin. Point blank. Period.”
Adin Ross responds to leaked $MLG group chat message
Shortly after the message leaked, Adin Ross took to his alternate account on X to address it directly. He confirmed the message is real, but maintains that he didn’t scam anyone.
“The Banks screenshot is real,” he said. “Sh*t is sad asf. If you guys think that $MLG being rugged was me, I’m sorry to tell you it wasn’t. There’s a reason that entire house is silent; truth will come out eventually.”
Banks responds to leaked message, steps down from FaZe
In a series of posts on X, Banks responded to the leaked message and said he was in a phone call with Adin to discuss the situation.
“On the phone with Adin right now, we’re doing a stream together tonight to address ALL OF THIS,” Banks said. “This whole thing has been wildly miscommunicated and has destroyed my mental the last several months. I’ve wanted to talk more publicly about this situation for a while. Sucks any of this f**ked with me and Adin’s relationship. See you guys tonight.”
The FaZe owner claimed that he was going to go on stream with Adin to talk about everything, but an hour later revealed he was stepping down from the organization and “this internet sh*t.”
“I’ve never scammed anyone a day in my f**king life,” he said. “The entire narrative is unfair, and part of the reason it exists is cause my ‘FaZe’ name is so easily farmed and manipulated. The fact that this is affecting the guys at all is whack.
“So for the time being, I’m gonna be stepping away from not only FaZe, but all this internet sh*t. It’s destroying my life inside and out. Sucks my entire life gets ruined over something I didn’t even do. The real ones know. I wish I could say I’ll be back, but I really don’t know if I will.”
After becoming CEO of FaZe, Banks decided to remove nearly all of its creators in 2024 in what was called a “reboot” of the organization.
