Crypto-betting sites are causing Valorant players to throw ranked matches
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesMultiple professional Valorant players and streamers have complained of teammates throwing top-tier ranked matches due to people betting on the result of the games using crypto.
Fans betting on the outcome of popular streamers or pro esports player matches is nothing new. EsportsBet.io had to shutdown solo queue wagers in October due to high-level wintrading in League of Legends, but this new wave of crypto-betting in Valorant has allegedly reached a new high.
Players could bet on a streamer to lose a match when they are on the same team, and throw the game intentionally, or see that a pro or streamer is on the enemy team and bet on them to win while intentionally causing their own team to lose.
Some of the biggest names in pro Valorant, like Yassine ‘Subroza’ Taoufik and Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik, have spoken about the problem online.
Valorant pros call out crypto-betting problem
Pros at the top level use ranked as a means of practice outside of scrims with other pro teams and as a way to create content for their audience and up-and-coming talent use the ladder as a way to get noticed.
Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo, a Sentinels player, called the current state of throwing in ranked games “ridiculous.”
NRG’s Pujan ‘FNS’ Mehta also spoke out about the issue, but proposed a way for players to disincentivize crypto-bettors.
If the alleged crypto-betting continues to happen on the ranked ladder, more pros and amateurs may choose to abandon solo queue and instead play in private matches.
In these private matches, each player in the game is invited so no one with crypto on the line can be assigned to the match and influence the outcome. However, this will shrink the pool of available players in the ranked queue, leading to longer wait times for games and matches that are uneven.
Riot Games has yet to comment on the issue.
