By Evan Spicer
Director of Cryptocurrency Investigations
MyChargeBack
Logan Paul has been a recognizable name, for better or for worse, among YouTube influencers. Although he’s faced his share of scandals, the 27-year-old still has 23 million YouTube subscribers. On his long resume as a public figure, Logan Paul may allegedly add “Mastermind of a Crypto Scam” to the list, according to many of those who invested in his CryptoZoo NFT scheme.
Unlike many criminals who run crypto scams, Logan Paul isn’t exactly hiding in the shadows. In fact, he pulled this off in plain sight. All he has to do is to claim innocence, blame the people around him, portray himself as the victim, and he’s likely to keep most of the money he made off of gullible fans and crypto investors. That is, unless the judge in a recent lawsuit decides otherwise.
CryptoZoo Turns Into a Crypto Scam Jungle
The story of Logan Paul’s CryptoZoo began in 2021 when the YouTube star touted this money-making scheme on his podcast Impaulsive. The idea behind the scheme was an offer of NFTs in the form of virtual eggs that would eventually hatch into exotic animals. Traders could raise these animals and even create new species which could be sold and converted into a proprietary cryptocurrency known as $ZOO.
There are no available numbers indicating how many people this crypto trading game attracted, but the Discord server’s CryptoZoo has 500 members.
Although the CryptoZoo release was greeted with much fanfare, Logan Paul fell abruptly silent on the scheme. When the eggs were meant to mature in 2022, there wasn’t a word from the social influencer about the program
The media, including the BBC, tried to follow up on the progress of CryptoZoo, but Logan Paul refused to comment. Finally, Logan Paul broke his silence about CryptoZoo when the crypto game was the subject of a three-part expose by CoffeeZilla. It’s estimated that 18 million people saw the investigative report, which concluded that CryptoZoo is nothing more than a crypto scam.
In response, Logan Paul issued a rather tardy apology for the failure of CryptoZoo, claiming that it was the fault of the project developers, who he described as “conmen” and “felons.” Paul threatened to sue CoffeeZilla for claiming that he was intentionally running a crypto scam. He later, however, apologized yet again and deleted the video threatening CoffeeZilla.
Logan Paul issued yet another apology, said he “took accountability” (rather than responsibility), and said he would “be coming forward with a plan in the near future.” This second statement was no doubt released after consulting with his legal team.
CryptoZoo Allegedly a Rug Pull Crypto Scam
Delving further into this crypto scam, Vulture journalist Zoe Haylock uncovered facts that certainly made the CryptoZoo development team seem shady, but Paul doesn’t come out of the scandal seeming innocent either. It’s clear that he didn’t pay all of the developers what he promised, even though he claimed to have funded the project to the tune of $1 million.
Also, from the report, it seems that Logan Paul must have made off with at least $6 million, even though those who invested in the project didn’t make a single dime. This is where loyal fandom pays (at least temporarily) for people who want to openly create crypto scams.
When asked why they didn’t demand their money back, some fans said they still believed in Logan Paul and wanted to see CryptoZoo succeed, even though they were offered no transparency about their investment even a year later.
However, some investors are appropriately appalled at Paul’s behavior and are seeking legal action. Don Holland, a police officer in the Western District of Texas, is suing Logan Paul on behalf of those who were duped by this alleged crypto scam. The lawsuit accuses CryptoZoo of being a rug-pull scheme that solicits money and makes promises but then completely abandons investors with their losses.
Not only is the case of CryptoZoo a cautionary tale about not being overly enthralled with celebrities hawking crypto trading schemes. It’s also a lesson in due diligence. Anyone who looked into Logan Paul’s crypto history (beyond any of the other controversies he’s been involved in) would see that his crypto credentials are less than impressive.
In 2021, Logan Paul aggressively promoted the new crypto coin, Dink Doink, which currently has a value of $0 and a deactivated website. Although this might not have been created by Paul and may simply be an honest failure, it might have been sufficient to warn would-be CryptoZoo investors that Logan Paul isn’t exactly dependable when it comes to crypto trading.
It will be interesting to see if Logan Paul will pay the price – literally – for his role in CryptoZoo and either return funds to investors of his own free will or be forced by a judge to do so as the result of a lawsuit. In the meantime, It’s important to take precautions before investing in cryptocurrency, research crypto brokers well, and not rely heavily on celebrity endorsements.
Have You Lost Money in a Crypto Scam? MyChargeback Can Help
It’s important not to give up if you are a victim of online fraud, but to seek recourse immediately. MyChargeBack has developed working relationships with law enforcement agencies worldwide, has extensive knowledge and experience with crypto tracking, and can improve your prospects of getting your funds back.
