Frederik “NoWay” Hinteregger is one of the biggest German streamers on Twitch and is fully committed to the MOBA League of Legends. In a stream, he spoke about the most lucrative offer he’s ever received and why he’s glad he didn’t take it.
What was that offer? In a mid-March stream, NoWay said crypto exchange FTX had offered him $2 million in a year-long endorsement deal. However, he was lucky not to have accepted at the time.
Why is he lucky? The streamer broached the subject after reading a headline: YouTubers who promoted FTX have been sued in a class-action lawsuit for $1 billion in damages (via Twitter).
NoWay has been in LoL since Season 1 and can rightly call itself a real veteran. You too?
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What is FTX all about? FTX was a crypto exchange founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried. It quickly became a huge success and Bankman-Fried was considered the star of the crypto scene, a genius businessman who casually played LoL in meetings.
FTX spent huge sums to secure advertising partners: American football star Tom Brady appeared in a commercial for them. The esports organization “Team Solo Mid” renamed itself “TSM FTX” for $210 million.
In 2022, however, the house of cards collapsed: FTX had to file for bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried is now under house arrest with his parents and he is no longer allowed to play LoL.
Once he made billions, now he lives with mom and they even want to ban him from LoL
NoWay thinks he’s doing well enough
Why did NoWay reject the deal? A viewer of the streamer writes that he admires the attitude. At 2 million euros, you could definitely become weak. But NoWay sees it differently and advises against getting involved in deals for which you lack the background knowledge.
You have to stay strong. If you don’t understand crypto – and there are so many scams in crypto – you have to stay strong. You don’t know how many livelihoods you’re ruining just to make yourself feel a little better. I’m doing so well anyway, you know.
The deal with FTX was the largest offer that had been made to him so far. There was also an offer from a casino when gambling was so big on Twitch. But even that couldn’t keep up with FTX.
In addition to moral concerns, there is a second reason why NoWay rejected the offers from FTX and the casino: they were very unsafe offers. He thinks it is “very unlikely” that he would have actually received the money in the end.
You can watch a video recording of the stream here:
How is that received? Extremely positive. In the comments on YouTube, NoWay is praised for its integrity and sensible approach to money. YouTube user Zino sums it up: “Just a cool dude.” (via YouTube)
NoWay can obviously live well with his decision to have turned down the million-dollar deal. Others cannot say that about themselves. Years later, streamer Sodapoppin’ is still mourning a dubious $10 million deal that he turned down in 2019.
Twitch streamer mourns turning down million-dollar deal: ‘It keeps me awake at night’