Cyberleek's GTA 6 leak flood looks to have ended in the most unsurprising way possible: a $250,000 crypto grift
Copy link Facebook X Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter GTA 6 leaker Cyberleek looks to have retreated after squeezing $250,000 out of the crypto market using unofficial clips of Rockstar's game.
Per Kotaku , GTA Forum sleuth Vice Cit has been investigating Cyberleek's crypto activity and recently reported that the leaker transferred about $250,000 into different separate wallets across four transactions on August 27.
"This isn't the 2022 leak, this has been planned out and executed very intentionally to maximize the money they'll make from this," Vice Cit writes.
The financial mechanisms employed differ slightly to an archetypal crypto rug pull here, 270 million reserve coins were seemingly burned to stoke trader trust and let the coin continue accruing transaction fees, rather than selling them off before the value tanks but the end result is a pump and dump nevertheless, with Cyberleek looking to get out while the gettin' is still good.
"This was definitely done to give crypto whales more confidence in actually trading the coin and contributed to the coin exploding in price and market cap over the last few days. Instead of rug pulling the coin CyberLeek opted to make their money from transaction fees from people buying and selling the coin," explains Vice Cit.
From day one, the person or group behind Cyberleek has used GTA 6 leaks as vehicles to promote its own crypto coin through QR codes and watermarked links. With the value of that coin now embedded in the dirt after freefall, there's no reason to keep up the grift.
The most recent GTA 6 leak clip saw over four minutes of the prologue story for female protagonist Lucia spill online. It came with Cyberleek's loudest, most desperate plea yet: "Trading volume price is how CL measures your support. CL will not continue without support. You decide."
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It's perhaps no coincidence that this apparent cashout has come as everyone is wondering how to watch the GTA 6 extended look today. It's possible Cyberleek just saw the writing on the wall, began to fear being uncovered as Take-Two ramps up investigations into the leaks , or anticipated a decline in interest and trading volume as Rockstar's Netflix reveal steers the conversation away from leaks.
I wouldn't be surprised if Cyberleek, who increasingly appears to have limited access to a non-standard build of GTA 6, springs one last leak right on the heels of the Netflix show in pursuit of imagined internet clout. But if this really is the end, it's as dumb as the whole leak saga.
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Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.
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