Game Network Employee Fired for Building in Secret Bitcoin-Mining Code

Class action lawsuit filed

An unidentified staffer at the ESEA gaming network has been fired for allegedly turning the company's software into a secret Bitcoin-mining Trojan.

In April, ESEA (the E-Sports Entertainment Association) admitted that its software — which serious Counter-Strike players use to play each other in anti-cheating modes — had been altered to secretly mine Bitcoins. At the time, ESEA blamed an unidentified staffer. Now, as the company faces a class action lawsuit, it says that employee has been axed.

"The person responsible for releasing the unauthorized Bitcoin mining code has been terminated," said ESEA co-founder Craig Levine in an email message. "We have been dealing with the entire situation in a responsible fashion to remedy those impacted and take steps to prevent this from happening again.