- CryptoZoo launched in 2001 aiming to outshine Axie Infinity.
- Coffeezilla exposed Logan Paul‘s CryptoZoo as a scam in a video series.
- Logan Paul claimed good intentions and sued Coffeezilla for defamation.
The Play-to-Earn (P2E) genre exploded in 2021, with Axie Infinity leading the charge. This game allowed players to earn in-game currency that could be traded for real money by battling Pokémon-like creatures, sparking a gold rush of copycat projects. While imitators like Monsta Infinite and Chainmonsters emerged, none could match Axie Infinity’s impact or recognition.
Eager to capitalize on the trend, YouTube personality Logan Paul launched CryptoZoo, a project mirroring Axie Infinity’s core concepts. However, the project soon became embroiled in controversy when YouTube investigator Coffeezilla released a series of videos alleging that CryptoZoo was a scam. While Paul initially backed down from his threats to sue Coffeezilla, it appears he has now changed his mind.
Logan Paul Follows Through With Lawsuit
Logan Paul’s lawsuit against Coffeezilla, filed in West Texas on June 27, centers on allegations of defamation. The YouTube personality claimed that Coffeezilla falsely accused him of orchestrating a scam with CryptoZoo. The filing asserted that Coffeezilla made these accusations despite having evidence to the contrary, painting a picture of intentional misrepresentation.
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While the ZOO token continues to trade on various platforms, the CryptoZoo game itself never materialized. In the court filing, Paul attributed this failure to the team members Eddie Ibanez, who allegedly mismanaged the project’s development, and advisor Jake Greenbaum, who Paul claimed prioritized personal profit over the project’s success.
In 2023, a class action lawsuit was filed against Paul and key personnel at CryptoZoo, including Ibanez and Greenbaum, claiming the defendants had perpetrated fraud. In this case, Paul responded by filing a cross-claim in January 2024 against Ibanez and Greenbaum.
This means that if the class action lawsuit is successful for the claimants, then Ibanez and Greenbaum will reimburse Paul for some or all of his losses, should Paul’s cross-claim be accepted.
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In the current filing, Paul alleged that Coffeezilla deliberately omitted evidence of his genuine intentions and frustrations with the project’s failures. It was stated that the claimant sought to make amends for Ibanez and Greenbaum’s actions by initiating a buyback program, which saw a personal loss of $1 million. Yet Coffeezilla continued to push the scam narrative.
Paul believed this was done to boost Coffeezilla’s own profile and increase his viewership and income.
The 3-Step Plan to Make Amends
Tension between Coffeezilla and Logan Paul escalated following the release of Coffeezilla’s first video alleging that CryptoZoo was a scam. In January 2023, Paul publicly claimed that Coffeezilla was ignoring his request for a right of reply. Coffeezilla quickly countered, stating that he had reached out to Paul’s manager for dialogue, dismissing Paul’s claim as “really reaching on this one.”
In an apparent attempt to defuse the situation, Paul posted a video on January 13, 2023, where he apologized for calling Coffeezilla a criminal and announced his decision not to pursue legal action, reasoning that it wouldn’t benefit CryptoZoo investors.
In the same video, Paul unveiled a “3-step plan” to address the CryptoZoo controversy. This plan included burning ZOO tokens held by Paul and his manager, implementing a “reward program” allowing users to reclaim their initial investment, and committing to finishing and delivering the game.
The court filing revealed that Paul’s “reward program,” later referred to as a “buyback,” was completed in March 2024. According to the document, Paul personally distributed $1 million worth of ETH to eligible NFT holders. Yet the game remains unfinished, with the URL linking to a dead page.
CryptoZoo initially released 10,000 NFTs at launch, each priced at 0.1 ETH. All NFTs sold out, raising 1,000 ETH for the project.
On the Flipside
- The ZOO token hit a peak price of $0.0003448008 on November 1, 2021, but has lost 99.9% of its value since then.
- Paul is alleged to have promoted and profited from a crypto project called Dink Doink.
- The P2E sector has a $9.6 billion market cap.
Why This Matters
Crypto investing, particularly in short-lived projects, often resembles a zero-sum game where one player’s gain is another’s loss. The CryptoZoo saga illustrates how celebrity endorsement can lend false credibility to speculative ventures.
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