Famous YouTuber and WWE wrestler Logan Paul has filed a lawsuit against his former partners in CryptoZoo, accusing them of orchestrating a rug pull scam that left investors with massive losses.
(Source: Brian Rose on X)
In court documents, Paul claims Eduardo Ibanex and self-proclaimed “Crypto King” Jake Greenbaum fraudulently recruited him into the NFT-based game project, only for it to collapse amid allegations of fraud.
The controversial influencer, who heavily promoted CryptoZoo to his followers, now seems to distance himself from the fallout, arguing that his co-creators deceived him about the venture’s legitimacy.
According to the lawsuit, Ibanez and Greenbaum allegedly misrepresented key aspects of CryptoZoo, including its development progress and financial viability, leading Paul to unknowingly promote what later became a “rug pull.”
Despite Paul’s attempts to shift blame, a federal magistrate judge recently denied his request for a default judgment against Ibanez and Greenbaum, who have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Background of the CryptoZoo Scam
CryptoZoo was a blockchain-based project launched in 2021 by Logan Paul, promoted as a play-to-earn game where users could buy, breed, and trade exotic animal NFTs to earn cryptocurrency rewards.
Players purchased “egg NFTs” using Ethereum or the project’s native $ZOO token, which were supposed to hatch into unique digital animals. These NFTs could then be bred to create rare hybrids, generating passive income.
Logan Paul promoted it heavily on his podcast, calling it a “fun game that makes you money” and claiming he invested $1 million into the development of the project.
However, the project quickly collapsed due to mismanagement and alleged fraud. When the game launched in November 2021, users found their NFTs were just low-quality stock images instead of the promised hand-drawn artwork.
Furthermore, the promised rewards system did not work, and the game itself was never functional. Investigations later revealed that key developers were unpaid, and insiders, including co-founder Jake Greenbaum, reportedly cashed out millions in profits while investors lost money.
In December 2022, YouTuber Coffeezilla exposed the scam in a viral three-part series, revealing that Paul and his team misled investors while insiders dumped their tokens.
While the digital asset space is growing rapidly, scammers and opportunists are aggressively targeting users. Furthermore, the anonymity behind these crypto projects makes it difficult to trace bad projects that are expected to be scams, such as pump-and-dump schemes or rug pulls.
Also Read: WOO X Exchange Hacked: $14M Stolen from 9 User Accounts
