LA Vape Cabal Goes Silent: FaZe Banks, Frank DeGods, and Others Caught in Memecoin Scandals and Rug Pulls
High-profile influencers FaZe Banks, Frank DeGods, SolJakey, ThreadGuy, and others have not posted on X (formerly Twitter) for five days now, which is extremely rare for this group. This mysterious pause has ignited a storm of speculation. The reason? Reports now reveal that these key opinion leaders—or KOLs—are deeply entangled in the Javier Milei memecoin scandal.
The allegations don’t stop there: new reports suggests these influencers, along with Hayden Davis, the mastermind behind the Libra memecoin scandal, have been front-running and rug-pulling numerous Solana based memecoins for months now, using insider information to manipulate markets and fleece investors, amplifying the gravity of their silence.
FaZe Banks, a YouTube gaming personality and co-founder of the esports giant FaZe Clan, is known for his massive online following and influence in gaming and pop culture. Frank DeGods, an influencer in the NFT and web3 space, co-founded projects like DeGods and y00ts. SolJakey and Threadguy, both active in crypto and social media, have cultivated loyal audiences in speculative digital markets.
Together these figures, alongside Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, wield significant power to sway their followers, making their sudden week long silence all the more suspicious. Davis has been implicated as the brains behind the Libra memecoin, promoted by Argentina’s President Javier Milei, and Melania Trump’s memecoin, both of which crashed spectacularly, vaporizing billions in investor value amid accusations of insider trading and scams. The Javier Milei memecoin scandal, saw Milei promote a memecoin that collapsed abruptly, triggering lawsuits, calls for impeachment, and accusations of rug pulls, tactics now linked to their broader activities.
Unpacking the Details
This scandal aligns disturbingly with the activities of a shadowy network known as the "LA Vape Cabal," reportedly based in Los Angeles and allegedly hiring influencers to manipulate memecoin markets for profit.
According to crypto reports from Unchained and other sources, this Twitch-fueled trading cult or influencer group drives speculative frenzy around memecoins—digital tokens tied to internet trends—only to execute rug pulls, leaving investors with losses. The LA Vape Cabal’s operations, centered in Los Angeles, a hub for influencer marketing and trendsetting culture, suggest a calculated strategy by local firms to exploit KOLs like FaZe Banks, Frank DeGods, SolJakey, Threadguy, and Hayden Davis for financial gain.
The Javier Milei memecoin, promoted by the president as a private initiative to boost Argentina’s economy, allegedly saw influencers and Davis hyping the token before its sudden collapse, mirroring the cabal’s alleged tactics. Davis, who claimed in text messages to have influence over Milei through payments to his sister Karina, allegedly withdrew $100 million from Libra’s token pool, fueling accusations of a massive scam. While Milei has denied benefiting from the memecoin, claiming no relationship with its creators, the backlash has drawn scrutiny to Davis and the influencers who may have driven its hype.
The scope of their alleged misconduct extends far beyond Argentina. Recent investigations, reveal that FaZe Banks, Frank DeGods, SolJakey, Threadguy, and Davis have been front-running new Solana memecoins for months, using insider information to buy into tokens early, pump their value through social media, and then sell at a peak, leaving retail investors with devastating losses. This pattern of insider trading and rug pulls, particularly on the Solana blockchain, has fueled accusations of a larger coordinated scam operation.
Their silence could indicate legal consultations, regulatory pressure, or an effort to avoid further exposure, as we have similarly saw with the Hawk Tuah scandal where she went silent for several weeks.