Logan Paul, the American YouTube personality and influencer, is reportedly under renewed scrutiny regarding his crypto activities, amid allegations that he may have profited by misleading his audience.
According to a BBC report, new evidence has emerged indicating he promoted investment opportunities without disclosing his financial stake in them.
Paul, whose YouTube channel has over 23 million followers, is believed to have influenced price surges in the investments he promoted, raising questions about whether he may have profited from selling tokens he owned.
The YouTuber is also currently facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit related to a failed cryptocurrency venture called CryptoZoo.
He has denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
In 2021, Logan Paul promoted high-risk crypto tokens known as “meme coins,” which were inspired by internet jokes and have no intrinsic value. Among these, he praised “Elongate,” a coin themed after Elon Musk, declaring in a video to his Maverick Club fan base, “Elongate made me rich.” Following this, Elongate’s price surged over 6,000% before crashing.
Analysis of an anonymous crypto wallet linked to Paul reveals it held Elongate during his promotion. The wallet later traded another Musk-themed coin, earning over $120,000 after Paul’s tweet caused a price spike. However, Paul denies any wrongdoing amid rising questions about these activities.
Logan Paul faces further lawsuits over Crypto Zoo ventures
A 2023 Time Magazine report revealed a similar pattern involving another cryptocurrency and an anonymous wallet. ReadWrite also wrote about his failed venture CryptoZoo, in which he pledged $2.3 million to buy back eggs associated with the failed non-fungible token (NFT) game.
I’ll have to keep correcting @CommunityNotes and @HelpfulNotes
“Preventing them from regaining all the money they lost to Logan” is horribly incorrect. I’ve stated multiple times this money was stolen from the community by bad actors, not me. It’s outlined in the lawsuit that… pic.twitter.com/e1qVvViteQ
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 7, 2024
However, there was a condition attached to the buy-back. He stated that anyone receiving a buy-back in this manner would have to agree not to take part in any legal action against Paul, including the ongoing class-action lawsuit he currently faces. The time frame to claim buybacks lasted until February 8 of this year.
The ground-level buy-in for CryptoZoo consisted of ‘Base Animals’ or ‘Base Eggs’, NFTs that would eventually be used in-game for breeding and other activities. The game, which was announced on YouTube in August 2021, was meant to be a “really fun game that makes you money,” but was never completed.
ReadWrite has reached out to Logan Paul for comment.
Featured image credit: Erik Drost via Wikimedia Commons / Canva