Logan Paul has announced that he is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, a failed and allegedly fraudulent Pokémon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021, which has sparked a class action lawsuit. Paul has committed over $2.3 million to buy back NFTs purchased through CryptoZoo, but there is a catch – those who receive a refund will be unable to sue him. The influencer is dealing with a class action lawsuit for allegedly promoting a game that never existed, and in response, he has filed a cross-claim, stating that he “filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas to hold these bad actors accountable.”
The NFT project was marketed as a “really fun game that makes you money,” with every hatched egg supposed to yield a certain amount of $ZOO tokens, determined by the animal’s rarity. However, the three-part investigation revealed that the game was never finished due to developers quitting due to nonpayment, and players couldn’t breed their hatched eggs or cash out. Moreover, Coffeezilla reported that two anonymous accounts received significant payouts from the project, leading to the class action lawsuit alleging market manipulation. Paul has accused other CryptoZoo developers of sabotaging the project, but has also admitted to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete it. Despite financial contribution from Paul, he has admitted that the project is dead and releasing it is unfeasible.
The buy-back program is believed to be Paul’s attempt at minimizing damages as class action lawsuits can be devastating for the defendants, and refunds in exchange for waiving claims against him can minimize potential damages, but it remains to be seen how the class action lawsuit plays out in federal court.
