Popular influencer Logan Paul filed a lawsuit against Stephen Findeisen, better known as “Coffeezilla” on YouTube, on June 27.
The lawsuit concerns videos Findeisen produced about Paul’s failed Cryptozoo NFT project in 2022.
Accused of operating a scam
The lawsuit, filed in a San Antonio, Texas, court, alleges that Findeisen “maliciously and repeatedly published false statements accusing Paul of operating a scam related to the troubled blockchain project Cryptozoo.”
“Paul brings this defamation lawsuit to hold Findeisen accountable for his actions and to hold him liable for the tremendous harm he has caused to Paul’s reputation through the willful and reckless dissemination of defamatory lies,” the complaint states.
Deliberately omitting information
Starting in late 2022, Coffeezilla released 3 YouTube videos about Cryptozoo, calling it “Logan Paul’s Biggest Scam,” accusing the influencer of defrauding his fans by keeping NFT holders’ money without delivering the rest of the promised project.
However, Paul alleges that Coffeezilla purposefully omitted information from his videos that showed Paul was “deeply committed” to the success of Cryptozoo, but was “misled by several of the project’s trusted advisors who turned out to be scammers.” The complaint adds:
“Findeisen knew very well that Paul never intended to scam, but on the contrary always planned to build a legitimate blockchain-based game.”
Failure due to Eddie?
Paul blames the project’s failure on Eduardo “Eddie” Ibanez, who Paul says “turned out to be a charlatan” who lied about his credentials, and Jake Greenbaum, an advisor who “was more interested in personal gain than in helping create a legitimate project.”
Logan Paul had previously dropped defamation threats against Coffeezilla. Paul said he considered suing Findeisen in late 2022, but decided instead to focus on “trying to make things right” with a $1.5 million recovery plan for Cryptozoo.
Paul alleges he was later “disappointed” when his efforts “proved insufficient” and spent $1 million to buy back the NFTs between January and March, despite “making no money from the project,” the lawsuit says.
Looking for compensation
Paul is now seeking damages in excess of $75,000 plus interest and attorney fees, along with additional damages and relief as determined by the court.
Cryptozoo first launched in 2021 and was originally conceived as a game where players purchase NFT “Eggs” using the game’s token called ‘Zoo’.
These eggs would hatch into animals that could be bred to create hybrid animals that could be traded. Players would earn more Zoo tokens depending on the rarity of the animals.
The Zoo token has dropped nearly 100%, with a market cap of 0 and a trading volume of just 1 cent in the past day, according to data sourced from CoinMarketCap.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/logan-paul-spant-lasterzaak-aan-tegen-youtuber-coffeezilla-over-cryptozoo-nft-project/
