New ‘America first’ ICE crypto game actually made by Polish guy

An airborne ad taunted “No Kings” protesters in Los Angeles this month with a provocative message. “HBD King Trump,” read the massive banner towed by a plane, along with a web address: www.iceagent.us.

The brazen act of promotion was for a new blockchain game that celebrates immigration raids by federal law enforcement officers. 

“While weak leaders allow chaos, we enforce the law — virtually,” the website says. “More than an NFT, it’s a movement for legal immigration, security, and America first.”

But it turns out that rather than a red-blooded American patriot, “ICE Agent” was made by a Polish guy.

Using web records, business filings, social media, and other open-source information, The Standard identified the game’s creator as Jakub Rutkowski, a Polish citizen who lives in a suburb of Warsaw.

When reached by phone, Rutkowski said he developed the game for a client. He declined to share who that individual is but thinks it’s an American because of “his accent.”

The game is fairly simple.

Users pay $20 to mint an “ICE Agent” non-fungible token, which lets them play. They then buy $ICE cryptocurrency, which they use to buy “illegals”: NFTs that generate $ICE over time while locked in a “detention center” for 21 days.

The more people buy $ICE, the fewer tokens can exist, meaning each could become more valuable over time — if demand keeps growing.

It’s not the first time crypto opportunists have taken advantage of the buzz around morally questionable or tragic events to boost so-called meme coins. But those behind the game have taken it upon themselves to goad immigrants in advertisements and celebrate real ICE raids on social media.  

Rutkowski said the team expedited the game’s launch so it would coincide with the Trump administration’s recent escalation of immigration enforcement.

“The main notion behind it is to make money,” he said. “It’s crypto, so if you don’t have something unique or controversial, it’s hard to get attention.”

The Standard identified Rutkowski using domain registration data tied to the game’s website. The team submitted false data for iceagent.us, like a phone number of  “+1.911911” — but apparently forgot to do the same for iceagents.us, a separate domain that redirects to the main site.

(The team said the website is currently down because somebody “reported” the domain; the registrar likely unplugged it because of the false information.)

Information about a Cypriot LLC owned by Rutkowski in the registration data led to a web of European companies owned by him and his family and, in turn, his social media profiles. They are full of photos of Rutkowski’s exotic cars, family vacations in Seychelles, and a selfie that conspicuously features his $120,000 Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph.

Rutkowski answered the phone when called at his Telegram account. He “wasn’t expecting” to hear from an American journalist but agreed to talk.

“It’s kind of funny,” he said of the game he developed. “If you’re an illegal immigrant, maybe it’s not so funny.”

He declined to connect The Standard with his client or share identifying information. Rutkowski did not appear to have any problem with the game’s content.

“He likes the idea of deporting illegals,” Rutkowski said of his client. “I mean, it’s quite logical.”

Not everybody was as unperturbed. Rutkowski said he had to convince the artist he hired to design the game’s website to set aside his initial moral qualms. Another contractor is handling social media marketing.

As for the “No Kings” banner: Rutkowski said it drove a spike in web traffic, but few new users minted the NFT.

The game’s Telegram channel has 337 users, and its Discord server has 125. Crypto data shows the first parts of the game went live on March 17.

Rutkowski declined to share how much he was paid for the project, and it’s unclear how much his client has spent on promoting it. Meta and Google ad libraries show that “ICE Agent” has not been advertised on those platforms.

The client, however, spent at least $1,200 on the L.A. plane ad. The Standard used landmarks and shadows to geolocate and time-stamp social media footage of the plane over “No Kings” protests, then cross-referenced the footage with open-source flight data.

The plane is registered to Fly Sky Ads LLC, which charges “from $375 to 700+ dollars per hour” for ads, according to its website. Flight data shows it was airborne for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Representatives of Fly Sky Ads LLC did not respond to requests for comment. 

When asked about the irony of an “America first” client hiring a Polish developer to build his game, Rutkowski bristled.

“My client doesn’t have a problem with immigrants in their own countries,” he said.