YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – In mid-December, Stephen Findeisen, better known by his online alias Coffeezilla, conducted an investigation against an NFT project called CryptoZoo. The project belongs to Logan Paul, a former wrestler turned Youtuber and influencer. However, as the investigation made a splash online, the project’s sales went up in early January.
Here is the back story to the investigation before jumping to any conclusions on the project’s current valuation.
Coffezilla exposed Logan Paul on the ZOO token scam
Findeisen has reported many scams in the crypto community over time, and Logan Paul has been on his radar in the past in affiliation with another project. However, the CryptoZoo investigation alone allegedly took Coffeezilla over a year to conduct.
Coffeezilla scam allegations go deep.
According to the three-part video report, at some point in 2021, the project’s valuation reached $2 billion before the play-to-earn game even launched. Findeisen attributed the high level of trust towards the ‘unhatched’ NFTs to Logan Paul himself and how he marketed the project.
The investigation contains interviews with ‘victims’ of the CryptoZoo scam, who bought into the “fun game” idea. They allegedly invested thousands of dollars that they never saw returned. Findeisen’s team also dove deep into the project, including background investigations into key players. One such was Jake the Crypto King, whose Twitter account was recently suspended.
The video report also accused Paul of not paying developers promptly, which led to a pause in “development activity.”
Coffeezilla scam allegations made a fuss in the previous two weeks and reached Logan Paul as well. The celebrity claimed that Findeisen did not reply to his calls for a civil conversation.
Logan Paul claims the investigation is nonsense.
Logan Paul’s response video aired on Jan 4, deeming the investigation pure speculation. Paul also called Findeisen a “lopsided journalist with a twisted agenda” while discrediting several interviewees. The former wrestler also threatened to press legal action against Findeisen, claiming that his allegations are not based on facts and lack substantial support.
Paul has not filed any lawsuits YET. However, potential CryptoZoo investors should keep their hands on the pulse to learn more details about the project.
As mentioned, Paul asserted that Coffeezilla did not respond to his invitation for a discussion. However, the investigator Tweeted proof that he tried to contact Paul as early as October.
Despite the heated cross-accusations of incompetence, the project actually soared in early Jan, with a vertical spike in trading volumes.
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CryptoZoo NFT project soared on Jan 4
As mentioned, the project involves an NFT egg that users buy for ZOO tokens and hatch a certain animal. NFT owners then ‘cross-breed’ the hatched animals and can create a funny panda with butterfly wings, a pug with an elephant trunk nose, etc.
The project currently enjoys a total volume o nearly 3,000 ETH as of Jan 4, equivalent to approximately $3.7 million. CryptoZoo also features 4,160 NFTs, 1,233 of which currently belong to the creator account, making nearly 30% of all NFTs unsold.
Moreover, two dozen latest transactions are still pending, according to Etherscan, which means that users are currently buying up CryptoZoo, despite the scandal.
A closer look at the activity history on Opensea also revealed that after the launch in Sep 2021, the activity went down considerably, from 268 sales on Sep 13, 2021, with an average price of 0.353 ETH to only one sale on Dec 5, 2022, at 0.0001ETH. However, the chart below shows rapid growth in early January. For example, Jan 2 amassed 159 sales at an average price of 0.24ETH, equal to sale levels in mid-Nov, 2021.
It is not insane to assume the hype could have boosted the project, which happens often in the crypto sphere. However, the growing trading volumes were a result of a calculated marketing move or genuine interest in the project despite the controversy. In any case, investors should keep a close watch on the unfolding events.
Also read: Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty, blocked from accessing or transferring any FTX or Alameda assets.
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