Blockchain gaming has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years and as we enter the second half of 2022, we’re starting to see some real games on offer. If you look at our recent The Top 5 Play-to-Earn Games for July 2022 article, you’ll see that compared to a year ago, the selection is far more appetizing for the traditional gamer.
When it comes to traditional gaming, few games have acted as milestones in its rich history quite like GTA V. Released just shy of 9 years ago, it was truly groundbreaking and has sat near the top of the Twitch viewer charts for its entire lifespan. Nevertheless, it’s an aging title and if you check Twitter, you’ll see #GTA6 trending on a weekly basis. Rumors have been rife about what city it will take place in, what sort of features it will boast, and when we’ll finally be able to play it.
However, one rumor as the result of an alleged leak has stepped into our world.
Are the Rumors of Crypto in GTA 6 Credible?
I saw the rumor doing the rounds a few days ago and I began to dig. NFT Evening reported the rumor and credited Watcher.guru. Watcher’s article on the rumor was weirdly self-referential, but it cited Screenrant as the originator. Screenrant did indeed post an article on GTA 6 rumors, but they weren’t about crypto within the game, but details about release dates and playable characters. However, it did include the following:
Other popular rumors surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6 include the game featuring multiple playable characters (including the first playable female protagonist in the history of the GTA franchise), the introduction of a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency system, and intercontinental travel across multiple time periods.
— Screenrant
In fact, if you follow each rabbit hole that mentions this rumor, they all seem to lead back to this paragraph on Screenrant, which doesn’t have citations as such, but does mention Tom Henderson who had this to say:
I'm assuming this dates back to my original report over a year ago, I have not had any updates on such features since and I would definitely treat this with a grain of salt.
It's just a rumor from a game in very turbulent development. https://t.co/x5ZuuYvhly
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) June 27, 2022
However, what reignited this rumor mill was a highly comprehensive GTA 6 “leak” that was posted to Reddit. Everything has been removed apart from the memes in the wake of anything that happens on the internet, but I did manage to trace it back to this document. It’s a weighty tome and appears to be the magnum opus of a fanfiction writer for GTA. Whatever the case, there’s only one line that’s relevant:
Money comes in three forms: bank balance, cash, and cryptocurrency.
So, are these rumors credible? I would guess there are several strands of truth, but they’re buried in a mountain of mis- or disinformation. Will crypto be in GTA VI? So far, there’s little evidence to suggest there will be, but Rockstar is known for pioneering and I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. In the current climate, with gamers kneejerk loathing any mention of crypto, it would be a risky move to announce.
