The launch of Logan Paul’s latest non-fungible token (NFT) project has instantly sparked anger from the crypto community who want him to be held accountable for creating and promoting a string of highly dubious crypto ventures.
Announcing his latest “passion project,” “99 Originals,” on April 12, Paul was immediately met with a wall of negative responses. Users remain particularly angry about the famed disaster-project CryptoZoo, a series of hybrid animal NFTs launched in Aug 2021 which imploded on launch and left investors out of pocket.
Crypto sleuth Zachxbt summed up the community’s anger by reminding Paul about CryptoZoo as well as his Digital Collectibles series.
“Remember when you rugged everyone for millions with these cash grabs just last year. When will they be reimbursed?” he said.
If Logan Paul were to attempt to make his investors whole, the repayments wouldn’t come cheap. One user alone was said to be down a seven-figure sum thanks to the mismanagement of CryptoZoo.
CryptoZoo flops
In its whitepaper, CryptoZoo was billed as “an autonomous ecosystem where users can collect, breed, and trade exotic animal hybrids.”
It was also, less officially billed as a redemption project of sorts for Paul, following his earlier promotion of the failed shitcoin Dink Doink. For the uninitiated, Dink Doink was an anthropomorphic phallically-inspired cartoon spring shitcoin, which quickly crashed in price and was later revealed to also have been created and drawn by Paul.
Sadly, CryptoZoo did not mark any immediate change in fortune for Paul’s investors. Shortly after the project was announced, internet detective Coffeezilla revealed that its so-called original artworks of hybrid animals were in fact poorly edited stock images taken from Photoshop’s image library.
“Basically it’s looking like what happens when you give a five-year-old Photoshop,” said Coffeezilla, on his YouTube channel on Sept 10.
According to Coffeezilla, Logan Paul netted $1.8 million from the project before launch. However, problems with the initial development team including accusations of unpaid wages led to further difficulties and a minting process that was far from smooth.
While many initial investors have gone on to brand CryptoZoo as either a scam or a rug pull, Paul argues that the project is neither.
“We got ourselves involved with the wrong people who made some errors and blunders and we have a great team now that are still working on it,” claimed Paul in an interview with The Block on April 12.
Paul argues that he surrounded himself with the wrong people during the creation of CryptoZoo and that the project is now in a better position to move forward. With CryptoZoo on life support but determined to carry on, Paul has gone on to pursue his next “passion project.”
99 Originals aims for limited release
99 Originals is the latest Paul offering and this time the YouTuber is aiming for a more limited release of NFTs based on photographs he has taken himself. With fewer NFTs and a simpler concept, it would appear that less could go wrong this time around.
Is it possible that the YouTuber has learned from his past mistakes? Between himself and his brother Jake Paul, the two do have a wealth of crypto experience to draw upon. Sadly, not much of it is positive.
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