Millions of dollars worth of CSGO skins have been lost forever after 40 big-time trader accounts were banned on Steam.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin trading has remained lucrative throughout the years and it’s set to continue when Counter-Strike 2 drops. Recently, however, Valve has been cracking down on some trader accounts seemingly without warning, possibly in association with gambling sites.
Recently, 40 expensive accounts were banned in alleged relation to CSGO Roll, a skin gambling platform that Valve has been working to shut down.
Millions in CSGO skins lost in recent ban wave
According to gambling site CSGO Empire, the high-rolling CSGO traders were accused of being engaged in a laundering scheme on CSGO Roll, their rival site. CSGO Empire claimed that they attempted to warn the skin traders “months ago” that they were using “illegal, unlicensed websites” that were high risk.
The CSGO skin trading community has been left stunned and concerned. Some took the time to track all of the accounts that were allegedly banned and found very popular and expensive skins in the traders’ collections. It was estimated that the bans have resulted in over $2 million worth of skins, stickers, knives, and gloves being gone forever since bans result in skins being untradable.
CSGO Empire and CSGO Roll have been in a public rivalry throughout 2023. Empire has continued to claim that CSGO Roll is engaged in shady activity including cryptocurrency and illegal schemes, which resulted in the eventual ban of some rich accounts.
“CSGORoll advertises itself as a marketplace without crypto cashouts and it operates in the United States,” CSGO Empire said on Twitter. “In reality, crypto withdrawals are enabled, money is laundered through [Owner] Killian’s holding company, and traders involved keep quiet to keep their millions flowing.”
This unfortunately led to the big traders being “falsely accused” of being part of the CSGO Roll’s alleged money laundering activity.
While it’s unclear if this is the true reason that the accounts are banned, the CSGO community is generally upset to hear of the skin traders getting banned at all. Buying and selling CSGO skins is not illegal and it’s sad to see so many popular skins wiped from the ecosystem.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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