FaZe Banks (Ricky Bengtson) / MLG Coin
Summary
Richard 'FaZe Banks' Bengtson is a social media influencer and co-founder of esports organization FaZe Clan who served as its CEO until July 2025, when he resigned following widespread accusations of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme involving the MLG Coin (ticker: 360noscope420blazeit), a Solana-based meme token that reached a peak market capitalization of approximately $177–200 million before collapsing by over 99%. Bengtson denies all wrongdoing and claims he never sold his holdings, while placing blame on fellow streamer Adin Ross; no formal criminal charges or confirmed regulatory enforcement actions had been filed as of mid-2026.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigationsTimeline(8 events)
2021-06-01
FaZe Clan members FaZe Kay, Jarvis, Nikan, and Teeqo promote Save the Kids token, which subsequently collapses. FaZe Clan removes FaZe Kay and suspends the others. Bengtson denies personal involvement but had separately promoted BANKSOCIAL.io.
PC Gamer2024-04-20
MLG Coin (360noscope420blazeit) launches on the Solana blockchain, themed around nostalgic gaming culture.
99Bitcoins2025-01-06
MLG Coin social media engagement peaks. FaZe Banks and Adin Ross promote the token aggressively. The token surges approximately 5,200% over six days from a $3 million market cap.
Decrypt2025-02-04
MLG Coin reaches its all-time high price of approximately $0.183, representing a market capitalization of approximately $177–200 million.
CoinLore2025-03-01
MLG Coin crashes more than 90% from its peak. Retail investors begin publicly accusing promoters of a rug pull.
CryptoNews2025-07-28
Screenshots from a private group chat allegedly showing Bengtson blaming Adin Ross as 'the only bad actor' surface publicly. Bengtson announces he is stepping down from FaZe Clan.
Dexerto2025-07-29
Bengtson formally resigns as CEO of FaZe Clan and announces an indefinite withdrawal from social media. Adin Ross confirms the leaked screenshot is authentic but denies orchestrating a rug pull.
Complex2026-02-20
Esports legal journalists publish analysis describing the collapse of FaZe Clan as an institutional entity in the aftermath of the MLG Coin scandal.
Esports Legal NewsDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending7/31/2026, 12:13:55 PMhash: 1NDLms8or7uKNmwNjksoJaFd866s6M4fpxVf95HXi9t
19 of 19 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 7/31/2026, 12:13:47 PM
last updated: 7/31/2026, 7:05:11 PM
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