Streamers Adin Ross and FaZe Banks Plan Crypto 'GTA 6' Server—Would It Be Banned?

Popular Kick streamer Adin Ross said he plans to create a crypto-infused custom server for Grand Theft Auto 6 with gaming influencer and FaZe Clan CEO and co-founder Richard "FaZe Banks" Bengtson, once the hotly anticipated title hits shelves.

But the plan could be doomed from the start.

“When GTA 6 drops, me and Ricky are going to make the biggest server together,” Ross said during a livestream on Monday. “And I promise you, it’s going to be completely crypto. Everything pro-crypto about it. It’s going to change the game.” 

Banks further suggested that the server would have an in-game crypto economy fueled by "a newly-made coin," while Ross said that the pair would "put a lot of money into it."

If history is anything to go by, however, the server would likely get banned—here’s why.

Back in 2022, Rockstar Games, the creator of the GTA franchise, published an article explaining that player-run servers on Grand Theft Auto Online (and Red Dead Online) could no longer use cryptocurrencies, crypto assets, or NFTs in any way. 

At the time, users had been running GTA 5/GTA Online “role-playing servers” strapped with fan-made modifications of the PC game. Some of these servers implemented NFTs and crypto into the server as a way to add weight to in-game assets, or offer exclusive benefits for players.

In response to Rockstar prohibiting crypto usage, a wave of GTA servers were forced to close.

This included Chicago rapper Durk “Lil Durk” Banks, who had launched an NFT-centric GTA server called The Trenches. Lil Durk’s Only the Family Gaming organization claimed to have been contacted by the legal counsel of Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive.

That said, there are swirling rumors that GTA 6 may be a fork in the road for Rockstar’s anti-crypto sentiment. As far back as 2021, speculation has circulated that the upcoming game would feature in-game Bitcoin rewards, and that crypto payments could be enabled.

But both of these rumors appear to be unsubstantiated, and Rockstar has yet to comment on the subject in regards to GTA 6. Others believe that crypto will simply be the butt of the joke throughout the game’s story mode, which is a more likely fit based on the way that the series has repeatedly taken aim at pop culture and society over the years.

Take-Two Interactive had put its finger in the crypto pie through mobile publisher Zynga, which it acquired in 2022, as it developed NFT mobile game Sugartown. At the time of the deal, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick specifically said that he believed there were “Web3 opportunities” that the firms could better tackle together.

However, in late 2024, the crypto gaming team at Zynga spun out of the company with its projects, creating a new firm called D20 Labs so the team could dive deeper into the world of crypto gaming.

Based on Rockstar’s current stance towards crypto assets, it appears likely that Ross and Banks won’t be able to operate a crypto-fueled GTA 6 server once the game releases later this year. But things can change—the once crypto-skeptic Donald Trump launched a meme coin, after all.

Decrypt reached out to Rockstar Games for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Edited by Andrew Hayward