YouTuber Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findeisen accuses influencer Logan Paul of promoting a crypto scam and costing his fans thousands of dollars.
In August 2021, controversial YouTuber Logan Paul announced a new project on his IMPAULSIVE podcast: the game CryptoZoo, which he reportedly worked on for six months and has already invested $1 million in.
Logan Paul apparently dropped out of the project later after his fans invested several million dollars.
Between December 17 and 23, 2022, investigative YouTuber Coffeezilla posted a three-part video series in which he wanted to get to the bottom of CryptoZoo’s story. In the videos, he compiled all the allegations against the project and Logan Paul and spoke to those affected.
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Logan Paul and his Crypto game
What is CryptoZoo? CryptoZoo was supposed to be a “really fun” game: players could buy the ZooCoins cryptocurrency, which should act as the in-game currency. NFT eggs could then be purchased with the coins.
Different animals should then hatch from eggs, which players should be able to combine into new hybrid animals. The rarer a hybrid is, the more ZooCoins players should receive daily to invest in new eggs or cash out.
CryptoZoo was apparently based on the hugely successful “Axie Infinity” NFT game, where players also breed “Pokémon”-like creatures.
Logan Paul fans are investing millions in a game that is not at all
What are the allegations? However, there was a catch: only the first part of the supposed game worked. Players could buy coins and get NFT images of eggs, but that was the end of it. Hatching, let alone cashing in, was apparently never properly implemented.
Logan Paul fans had already invested millions of dollars before the game launched. Coffeezilla spoke to some of the affected people who admitted to investing between $7,000 and the equivalent of around $340,000 without being able to cash out a dime. .
Apparently, they were confident that Logan Paul had changed from his previous scandals. They saw the project as a way for ordinary people to invest in cryptocurrency and benefit from the boom.
Were there other obscure methods? In addition to the scam allegations, CryptoZoo is said to have even more problems.
- It’s said that the game’s supposed “craft artwork” was just photos of animals that were half-heartedly tinkered with
- Also, CryptoZoo Developers Reportedly Never Got Paid
- Behind the scenes, there were reportedly arguments and disagreements between Logan Paul and his team
You can watch the first part of Coffeezilla’s video series here in English. Part 2 and Part 3 are also available on his YouTube account.
Distract first, then damage control
How did Logan Paul react to the allegations? He probably tried to silence her at first. On Twitter, Logan Paul posted about everything but his apparent crypto scam. But the fans didn’t let him off the hook.
- On December 23, Logan Paul posted a sob message he allegedly received from an alleged fan on the plane.
- Most of the comments in the post were about CryptoZoo, Coffeezilla, and the people who lost their money to Logan Paul (via Twitter).
Eventually, Logan Paul couldn’t ignore the allegations any longer and released a statement Dec. 24 on Twitter. In the post, the influencer explained that while he respects Coffeezilla’s work, it’s not the truth.
Additionally, Logan Paul announced that he would expose the “black sheep” and hold them accountable when “appropriate”. On January 3, he will give more details on his IMPAULSIVE podcast. (via Twitter).
Logan Paul would rather play dress up than care
What is the current situation? Logan Paul’s announcement failed to calm people’s minds. In the comments on Twitter, many Internet users criticize him for having ignored the subject as long as possible and for blocking people who wanted to talk about it.
Coffeezilla is also unimpressed with Logan Paul’s plans. This is by no means the “right time” Paul was talking about, just good old damage control, according to the YouTuber.
Coffeezilla also accuses Logan Paul of only caring about his own reputation and not the scam victims who lost their money (via Twitter).
How does the story continue now? On December 27, Logan Paul announced via Twitter that he had invited Coffeezilla to his podcast to talk about CryptoZoo. However, he explained that he had already invited Paul to his own show the day before, having previously turned down several interview invitations.
Coffeezilla suggests live streaming a possible conversation between the two and donating proceeds from the stream to CryptoZoo victims. It remains to be seen whether and in what form the conversation will take place.
However, hardly anyone seems to trust Logan Paul’s sincerity. Many see just an attempt to get his head out of the noose.
YouTuber Coffeezilla wrote that Logan Paul’s latest Twitter post, in which he apparently dressed up as Coffeezilla to seemingly investigate himself, is the funniest thing he’s seen this year. He can’t wait for Logan Paul to find out he’s innocent.
Whether there will be any legal consequences for Logan Paul is still open, but it seems unlikely.
NFTs have been in the game since 2021. While CryptoZoo is arguably a particularly devastating example of the trend, it’s far from the only game capitalizing on digital collectibles. You can read here what happens when such a game closes:
Players Invest Over €260,000 in NFT Game Ending Now – What Happens to the Money?