American YouTuber and boxer Logan Paul is facing backlash again after being accused of misleading his fans about cryptocurrency investments. New evidence shows that Paul apparently promoted the tokens without admitting that he had a financial interest in them, earning more than $100,000 in the process.
YouTuber profits from misleading fans
BBC I mentioned On Wednesday, social media personality Logan Paul allegedly misled his fans in 2021 when promoting cryptocurrency projects online. The investigation revealed clear links between Paul and a wallet that profited from the tokens he shared online.
According to the report, Paul endorsed Elon Musk’s Memecoin, Elongate, in May 2021 in his subscription-only fan club, Maverick Club. In the video, the YouTuber said: “Elongate made me rich. Elongate, baby, let’s go. Elongate icon.”
Logan Paul promotes Elongate memecoin in 2021. Source: Reddit
After the name was dropped, the price of memecoin rose 6,000% but quickly collapsed when investors started selling for a profit a few hours later. The report notes that even if his intentions could not be proven, Paul’s mention appears to have influenced Elongate’s price action.
The BBC analyzed an anonymous cryptocurrency wallet for its apparent connection to the internet star. The investigation found that the wallet received funds from Paul’s public wallet in February 2021 to start trading cryptocurrencies.
The wallet was allegedly “subsequently paid for by Maverick Club and held in Elongate when Paul promoted it on May 10, 2021.” Furthermore, it also traded another Musk-themed token after the YouTuber posted on X that he was going “to the moon.”
Shortly before Paul’s post, the wallet held about $160,000 worth of memecoin and sold most of its holdings 12 hours later, when the cryptocurrency saw a significant price spike. The wallet appears to have made around $120,000 in profits from this trade.
Logan Paul’s long history of cryptocurrency controversies
These are not Paul’s first accusations related to cryptocurrencies. Over the past few years, he has been involved in a lawsuit over the failed CryptoZoo project, which saw investors lose about $4 million. In 2023, Time magazine reached similar findings to the BBC about another memecoin, Dink Doink, and a different anonymous wallet.
This investigation Found A “comfortable relationship” between the anonymous wallet and Paul’s public discourse. “The wallet was fed with a lot of money that went to that address,” as the anonymous wallet reportedly sent $100,000 to Paul’s address after selling its Din Doink tokens.
The YouTuber’s lawyer told the BBC that the transfer had nothing to do with the sale of the memecoin. However, he did not deny Paul’s connections to the anonymous wallet and admitted that he traded the token, claiming to have only made a profit of $17,000.
Despite responding to Dink Doink’s accusations, Paul apparently refused to comment on the BBC’s main investigation for several months. According to the report, the social media personality later agreed to speak with the British media team, inviting them to his gym in Puerto Rico.
However, the BBC team met the Logan Paul lookalike instead and was verbally attacked by a group of his pals. His lawyer then sent a letter on behalf of the YouTuber, warning them of “potential consequences if we publish our findings.”
Paul has also faced recent online controversy over Lunchy, his collaboration with YouTubers KSI and Mr. Beast, who was recently accused of cryptocurrency-related scams.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $93,666 in the weekly chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.