Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? For now, these are just rumors

Rumors that the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 will use the cryptocurrency that has been circulating since over a year now—and they swirl again.

On Wednesday, a pseudonymous crypto influencer on Twitter called Gordon — apparently named after Gordon Gekko from the iconic 1987 film “Wall Street” — shared with his nearly 500,000 followers that “GTA 6 will allow cryptocurrency payments” and that “so far, only Bitcoin, EthereumAnd USDT (are) confirmed.

But in reality, no cryptocurrency has been confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6, despite the rumors currently circulating. Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two have made no such announcements this week or before, and official trailers and announcements have made no mention of the inclusion of cryptocurrencies.

But the tweet, which also contained a fake trailer for the game, quickly went viral, with over 500,000 views at the time of writing, in just a few hours. When Twitter users asked Gordon where it came from, he joked that his “uncle works there” or that previous reports on the topic were “old” at this point.

But in truth, nothing has changed since then. DecryptThe GG reported earlier rumors in May 2023, nor since the first official trailer – which initially leak with “BUY BTC” stamped on itapparently by the discloser in question— debuted last December.

DecryptGG reached out to Rockstar Games for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Could Will Grand Theft Auto 6 implement a crypto element when it launches in 2025? It’s certainly possible, and if so, it would be a transformative moment for the adoption of cryptocurrency by the traditional gaming industry.

Take-Two Interactive has already explored this space, acquiring casual gaming giant Zynga in early 2022, while Take-Two founder and CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested there were “Web3 opportunities” could better explore as a team. Zynga has since launched its first blockchain game on Ethereum, called SugartownBut Take-Two still hasn’t touched its other brands.

Rockstar Games, on the other hand, prohibits the use of cryptocurrency or NFT on player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers in late 2022, following a surge in the use of NFTs to represent unique player-owned assets within modified game servers.

And given Grand Theft Auto’s satirical tone, the game might be more likely to criticize cryptocurrency and poke fun at caricatures of crypto assets and NFTs, for example, rather than try to launch its own on-chain currency. But that’s just speculation at this point, as there are relatively few official details surrounding GTA 6.

For now, at least, don’t believe the hype. While Rockstar Games hasn’t officially shut the door on the use of cryptocurrencies in Grand Theft Auto 6, it hasn’t confirmed anything about it either. This will certainly remain a hot topic as we approach the release, which is currently slated for fall 2025.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.