Crypto casinos and some of the worst forms of social media influencing are becoming increasingly synonymous, although this time it may actually do some good.
Jack Doherty, an American streamer best known for crashing his McLaren supercar and acting aggressively in public, backed up by his much larger security guard, posted on X earlier today that he signed a contract with Shuffle.com that included a stipulation which prevents him from posting on social media for the next six months.
The social media influencer said that he had not fully read the contract before signing it, and Shuffle’s CEO and Co-Founder Noah Dummett later confirmed that the agreement is genuine.
He posted on X: “For everyone asking, yes it’s real. His lawyers are now pressing us hard to have this contract scrapped, but we will stay strong. Money well spent to get this mf off the internet.”
Firms such as Stake, Rainbet and Duelbits have increasingly tapped into social media influencers by taking advantage of the ‘clipping phenomenon’, which sees content from livestreams edited and distributed across social media by anonymous accounts.
Paying influencers to play on platforms like Stake or Rainbet, or slapping logos onto viral content, has become a way for these firms to get millions of eyes on their brands.
On top of this, there are also individual marketing stunts.
Last month, the little-known BetBolt hit the headlines after reportedly paying £1.2m in an auction to name the newborn baby of the adult actress Bonnie Blue after its crypto casino.
Like the social media spat involving Shuffle and Doherty, it’s hard to know what is and isn’t real, as there is no evidence that BetBolt paid the money it’s claimed to have done.
In the case of Shuffle, the firm’s social media account responded to a post from Doherty, which asked his followers if he should stream and trade meme coins by telling him that the company will ‘pay you to shut the f**k up’.
It then doubled down when Doherty said he was open to sponsorship offers after a cryptocurrency released under his name wasn’t ‘pumping as much as I would’ve liked’.
Taking one influencer offline for six months is never a bad thing, but this latest interaction once again underscores that these types of firms are being put in front of millions of younger, impressionable social media users.
While the regulated sector is forced to shield its content from these types of social media users, these types of crypto casinos are now, in many cases, the first exposure these influencers’ fans have to gambling.
At the time of writing, Doherty hasn’t posted on his social media channels since releasing the statement. But nobody would be surprised if he doesn’t reemerge to his audience head to toe in Shuffle branding.
