In September 2021, Logan Paul, the internet personality, introduced CryptoZoo, an NFT-based game that promised players passive income through breeding digital animals on the blockchain. Naturally, the project became an immediate media magnet. Eager investors flooded in, wooed by the allure of a user-friendly marketplace, colorful digital art, and a play-to-earn ecosystem. The game never materialized as promised, leaving investors with worthless NFTs and raising serious questions about accountability in the Web3 space.
The Rise and Fall of CryptoZoo
CryptoZoo first hit the spotlight on Logan Paul’s podcast, Impaulsive. It touted itself as an “autonomous ecosystem” in which players can purchase NFT “eggs” with the ZOO token on the Ethereum blockchain. Logan Paul himself described CryptoZoo as:
"a really fun game that makes you money." - Logan Paul
This pitch, aimed at his 23 million YouTube followers and other crypto beginners, was highly successful. CryptoZoo’s investors lost more than $6.5 million. Most were lured in by the glitz of Paul’s celebrity and the easy fortune he was peddling.
The promise of CryptoZoo was enticing: a vibrant digital world where players could breed, collect, and trade unique NFT animals, all while earning passive income. The game launched in the wake of the massive success of Axie Infinity, which had taken the world by storm and popularized the play-to-earn model. Unlike Axie Infinity, CryptoZoo walked away with no working game.
The Coffeezilla Investigation
A “crypto watchdog” known as Coffeezilla conducted and released an investigation into CryptoZoo on December 17, 2022. Per his trip, his exposé would go viral, accumulating over 10.4 million views. He discovered seriously critical issues with CryptoZoo’s smart contracts. He said the game’s entire codebase was made up of just 1,000 lines of “junk code.”
"Logan Paul’s team was selling tokens to fans while the game was nowhere near complete… it was a house of cards." - Coffeezilla
The complaint accused Logan Paul of cashing out on token sales while failing to promote the game itself. Coffeezilla cited a wallet linked to Paul that sold $2.3 million in ZOO tokens, raising questions about his commitment to the project versus his personal financial gain.
Legal Battles and Aftermath
Initially, Logan Paul tried to pass the responsibility. In a now-deleted January 2023 video, Dunn accused developers Ibanez and Greenbaum of deliberately sabotaging the project. Paul’s response Under mounting pressure and scrutiny, Paul finally issued an apology on January 13, 2023. In the same statement, he announced a $1.5 million refund plan for those investors who were duped. In June 2024, they retroactively expanded the refund plan to $2.3 million. This action represents an impressive step of commitment to solving the complaints of all the investors who were scammed out of their investments in the CryptoZoo endeavor.
Even with the apology and refund plan, the fallout from the CryptoZoo debacle went on. In June 2024, Logan Paul countersued Coffeezilla for defamation, claiming that the investigator had produced “malicious falsehoods” in his reporting. This litigation dramatically raised the stakes in the dispute. Today, the social media celebrity goes head to head with the crypto crusader who exposed the faults and purported foul play around CryptoZoo.
By the time we get to Coffeezilla v. As of June 2025, that lawsuit will be well underway. This is just the latest example of the deep and enduring consequences of the CryptoZoo disaster. The price of ZOO token peaked at $0.00064. By the middle of 2022 it had dropped below $0.00001, erasing hundreds of millions in value and leaving investors holding assets that were worth almost nothing.
Lessons Learned and the Future of Web3 Accountability
The CryptoZoo case should be a warning shot to the growing Web3 ecosystem. It highlights the dangers of investing in celebrity-backed projects without conducting sufficient due diligence. The tragic incident has resulted in passionate debates. Clearly, people are calling for more transparency and accountability from the crypto industries, and in particular with NFT-based games and projects.
The case reinforces the power and value of independent, nonprofit investigative journalism in keeping bad actors and bad projects at bay. Coffeezilla’s investigative work forced Logan Paul’s hand and made him answer the allegations. At first, he pushed back aggressively with a video warning of legal reprisal. This highlights the importance of public pressure in forcing action and ensuring accountability.
The CryptoZoo saga raises important questions about the responsibilities of influencers and celebrities who promote crypto projects to their audiences. Though valuable, often attracting attention and investment in nascent ventures, endorsements come with an ethical responsibility. This protects influencers from having to be careful about not misleading their followers on projects with questionable underpinnings.
