Key Takeaways
- What started as humble video game streaming has evolved into a world of highly profitable crypto casino content.
- Top streamers such as Adin Ross have landed enormous deals, with Kick offering a 95% revenue share and multimillion-dollar contracts.
- While popular, critics argue that crypto casino streaming glamorizes gambling, exploits young fans, and revives past scandals like the CS:GO Lotto controversy.
Live streaming just isn’t about video games anymore.
What began in the early 2010s as a way to watch players grind games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike has morphed into a global stage for just about anything.
Logging on to a live stream over the past decade may have introduced you to everything from controversial “hot tub” streams that pushed Twitch’s boundaries of decency, political commentary, to IRL streamers playing pranks on the street.
Love it or hate it, live streaming’s unpredictable nature and controversy have made it one of the most popular art forms of the modern era.
But lately, one genre stands out as both wildly popular and morally concerning for many: streamers who play online casino streams funded by crypto.
From CSGO Skins to Crypto Casinos
The current wave of crypto casino streams is not happening in a vacuum. In fact, it has roots going back over a decade.
In 2016, YouTubers TmarTn and Syndicate were caught promoting a CS:GO Lotto skin-betting site without disclosing that they secretly owned it.
In numerous videos, with titles like “HOW TO WIN $13,000 IN 5 MINUTES,” both creators showcased massive winnings on the platform without revealing their financial stake in it.
Online sleuths later discovered that TmarTn was registered as the site’s president and Syndicate as its vice president. Neither their video content nor descriptions made these roles transparent.
The scandal ignited outrage, not only because of the undisclosed ties, but because the majority of their audience was underage.
CS:GO Lotto functioned like an online casino built around Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s weapon skins.
These skins, although purely cosmetic in-game, carried real-world value because they could be sold on third-party marketplaces.
On a variety of gambling sites, including CS:GO Lotto, players deposited skins and used them like casino chips.
They could then wager them in coin flips, jackpot draws, or roulette-style bets, with the chance of winning skins of much higher value.
Since rare items sometimes sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars, the stakes were enormous.
The scandal prompted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action.
In September 2017, both influencers reached a settlement over deceptive endorsement practices, marking the FTC’s first-ever complaint settled against individual social media influencers.
Yet, just under a decade later, the internet seems to have forgotten the scandal, as gambling has re-emerged on an even bigger stage.
Only this time, it’s not hiding behind colorful video game skins, but powered by crypto and backed by multi-million-dollar sponsorships from global casinos.
The Rise of Crypto Casino Streaming
Crypto casino betting has quickly become one of the most polarizing genres in livestreaming.
Streamers have begun broadcasting themselves wagering massive sums on crypto casino slot machines, roulette wheels, or blackjack tables.
The use of crypto makes deposits and withdrawals fast and harder to regulate, which has helped these sites flourish despite legal gray areas in many countries.
Despite regulatory crackdowns, such as Twitch’s 2022 policy banning unregulated casino content, crypto casino streams continue to thrive.
Worldwide gross gaming revenue in the sector exploded to about $81.4 billion in 2024, a five-fold increase since 2022.
Although many crypto gambling sites are blocked in certain jurisdictions, including parts of the U.S., they remain easily accessible through VPNs, according to the Financial Times.
Jordan Lea, a former gambler who now campaigns against the industry, told the publication that guides on how to get around the blocks are widely shared by online influencers who “specifically push” users in.
Sponsorships and Mega-Deals
Adin Ross remains one of the most prominent streamers in the crypto casino streaming space.
After his permanent ban from Twitch in 2023, he signed with Kick, an emerging livestreaming platform backed by Stake.com, the leading crypto casino operator.
Ross, who is viewed by millions every week, revealed he earned around $30,000 in just a five-hour Kick stream, while streamers with a modest audience, around 1,000 concurrent viewers, can make approximately $100/hour.
Under the leadership of Ed Craven, an Australian billionaire, Stake has dramatically expanded and pulled in a whopping $4.7 billion in revenue in 2024.
The roster of streamers tied to crypto gambling is broad.
Before Kick’s rise, names like Trainwreckstv and xQc were early high-profile promoters of Stake on Twitch.
While Twitch eventually banned unlicensed casino streams in 2022, Kick welcomed the creators, offering a remarkably generous 95% revenue share compared to Twitch’s standard 50/50 split.
Ross revealed that the platform’s CEO offered a collective $140 million deal to him, iShowSpeed, and Kai Cenat for exclusive streaming.
Kai Cenat notably turned down the massive offer, earning public admiration for putting values over quick cash.
The streams have also attracted some of the world’s biggest celebrities, most notably Drake.
The Canadian rapper reportedly signed a $100 million-per-year deal with Stake and has become a regular guest on streams with Adin Ross, playing roulette and other casino games.
In April 2025, Drake and Adin hosted a joint livestream, Stake vs Drake & Adin, offering $1 million in viewer prizes.
A later session that year saw them placing staggering $100,000 bets within seconds, losing well over a million dollars live on stream.
Criticism Is Rife
The new wave of crypto casino streams, while now hugely popular due to the personalities involved, has drawn intense criticism.
Writing in Pitchfork, culture reporter Kieran Press-Reynolds slammed Drake’s collaborations with Adin Ross as a new low for streamer–musician partnerships.
“Drake becoming Stake’s cultural mascot is insidious—he’s marketing the app to millions of aspirational obsessives, turning his fanbase into a horde of gambling degenerates who trust their favorite influencers’ baseless ‘calls’ with divine faith,” he wrote in April.
He compared the culture around these streams to “astrology for boys,” where influencer “vibes” and gut feelings replace rational decision-making, as viewers buy into the fantasy that they too can get rich instantly.
“We’re awash with so many get-rich-quick fantasies, from AI-generated shortform slop to shitcoin rug-pulls to endless prediction markets,” he continued.
“It speaks to how unstable and slippery money feels now, or at least how corporations want you to feel it is—that anyone can make a million in an afternoon as long as you hit the right buttons,” he added.
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Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
