Drake hit with RICO class-action lawsuit over promotion of crypto casino Stake
Rapper Drake has been named as one of the defendants in a new RICO class-action lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. According to the complaint, Drake, streamer Adin Ross, and Australian citizen George Nguyen allegedly used the crypto casino Stake to covertly transfer funds and run campaigns designed to artificially inflate music-streaming numbers.
The lawsuit claims the defendants used Stake’s “trips” feature to disguise money transfers linked to music-stream botting, masking financial transactions as in-platform activity. According to the plaintiffs, this function operated as an “unrestricted and unregulated money transmitter” outside the reach of financial regulators.
Filed on December 31, 2025, by Stake.us users Lashonna Ridley and Tiffany Hines, the complaint argues that Stake.us presented itself as a “social casino” to evade U.S. gambling laws while effectively enabling real-money betting through its Gold Coins and Stake Cash token system.
The suit aims to represent all Virginia residents who created accounts on Stake.us, as well as U.S. users who purchased tokens, placed wagers, or incurred losses over the past three years. It alleges the platform “misled consumers by positioning itself as a safe and harmless online casino” while operating outside legal boundaries.
Adin Ross has previously faced criticism for promoting questionable projects. In 2021, he advertised the MILF token — later identified by GNcrypto as one of the Top 5 Celebrity Crypto Projects That Failed.
The lawsuit also alleges that Drake and Ross — as paid promoters for Stake — placed bets using funds supplied by the casino and transferred money between themselves through the tipping feature. Plaintiffs claim this same feature financed schemes that artificially boosted streaming numbers for Drake’s music.
The complaint seeks at least $5 million in damages and calls for a jury trial. The case is already being framed as one of the most serious legal challenges involving Stake and its celebrity promoters.
This is not the first lawsuit targeting Drake and Ross. In October, they were sued in Missouri over allegations that their promotion of Stake.us was “deceptive” and exposed young audiences to risk.
The new filing broadens the accusations, adding not only unlawful gambling but also the alleged use of the platform for covert financial operations.
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