Logan Paul speaks to fans during the Slap Fighting Championships at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Convention Center on March 05, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio.

Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds, as long as you don't sue him

by with No Comment Tech

Logan Paul speaks to fans during the Slap Fighting Championships at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Convention Center on March 05, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio.

Image Credits: Gaelen Morse / Getty Images

Logan Paul is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, the failed and allegedly fraudulent Pokémon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021. The catch? You can’t sue him if you get a refund.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Thursday, Paul announced that he is “personally committing” more than $2.3 million to buy back NFTs purchased through CryptoZoo. Claims can be submitted online until February 8.

“I never made a single penny from the project, period. In fact, the opposite is true, because I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to make it happen,” Paul said in his post. “Like you, I was highly disappointed that the game was not delivered.”

Claimants will receive 0.1 ETH per eligible NFT — known as “Base Eggs” and “Base Animals.” Players were supposed to be able to “breed” the animals that “hatched” from the base NFT that they purchased, which would create “hybrid” animals that were also NFTs. Hybrid animals are not eligible for the buy-back program.

The form’s terms and conditions also note that any submitted NFTs that Paul “in his sole discretion deems ineligible” will not be returned. To be eligible for a refund, claimants also have to agree to waive any “actual or anticipated claims against Paul” — which means promising not to take legal action against him in relation to CryptoZoo.

The influencer, who faces a class action lawsuit for allegedly making millions of dollars of cryptocurrency by promoting a game that ultimately didn’t exist, also filed a cross-claim. In an X post, he said that he “filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas to hold these bad actors accountable.”

“This lawsuit is the result of an exhaustive investigation that included the review of the entirety of conversations and tracking nefarious trading activity related to the project,” Paul continued in his X post. “Nefarious trading activity taken behind our backs, without our knowledge, and with the intention of defrauding us all.”

Rob Freund, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who represents brands and creators, told TechCrunch that the buy-back program could be Paul’s attempt at minimizing damages. Class action lawsuits can be “devastating” for defendants, as damages can include what the plaintiff and class members initially lost, in addition to punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Freund suggested that by refunding NFTs in exchange for waiving claims against him, Paul can individually settle with class members, effectively minimizing the potential damages.

“Paul may be betting (or at least hoping) that enough people who would otherwise be potential class members will take him up on this offer and drastically reduce his potential exposure in the pending case by doing so,” Freund said. “That would let him angle for a much more favorable settlement.”

Paul described the NFT project as a “really fun game that makes you money” when he announced it during an August 2021 episode of his podcast, “Impaulsive.” CryptoZoo was marketed as a collecting game using Ethereum — each NFT was an egg that was supposed to hatch into an animal that was assigned one of five levels of rarity. Those animals could be bred to produce hybrid animals, which also varied in rarity. Every time an egg hatched, it was supposed to yield a certain amount of $ZOO tokens, which were determined by the animal’s rarity. Players were supposed to be able to either buy more eggs or cash out each time an animal hatched.

Paul also promised that CryptoZoo would include interactive minigames and that the project would eventually “enter the metaverse.”

A three-part investigation by independent YouTube reporter Coffeezilla documented how the project unraveled; the game was never finished because developers quit due to nonpayment, Paul and his associates allegedly planned to engage in market manipulation and players couldn’t breed their hatched eggs or cash out.

Coffeezilla reported that two anonymous accounts received payouts from the project — one received $364,000 (92.7697 ETH) and the other received $1 million (260.000 ETH). At the time of Coffeezilla’s reporting, CryptoZoo held approximately $79,875,629, or 1,214,225,001.8 $ZOO for “wildlife charities and CryptoZoo development.

In now-deleted response videos, Paul accused another CryptoZoo developer of scamming him and the rest of the team, but later told fans on Discord that he would be “taking accountability.” He then outlined a plan to pay back investors and finish the game.

The class action lawsuit filed last year in the Western District of Texas alleges that Paul and other CryptoZoo associates promoted the project to “consumers unfamiliar with digital currency products,” and that they “manipulated the digital currency market for Zoo Tokens to their advantage.”

In an answer and cross claim filed on Thursday, Paul alleged that Jake Greenbaum and Eduardo Ibanez, who worked on CryptoZoo and were also named in the class action lawsuit, were “con artists” who “sabotaged” the project. Paul also claimed while he lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the duplicity and deceit of those he trusted,” Greenbaum and Ibanez pocketed “millions.”

CryptoZoo, however, is dead. Paul posted that after “personally” spending $400,000 to complete it early last year, releasing it was unfeasible. He also reminded followers that the Zoo Token was created to support the game, and was never intended as an “investment vehicle,” so the buy-back is not intended to “compensate those who gambled on the crypto market and lost.”

“Unfortunately, there are too many regulatory hurdles that would need to be cleared that I did not originally understand and would ultimately delay this buy-back even further,” he said. “This buy-back is a way for me to make whole those who intended to play CryptoZoo.”

YouTuber Logan Paul’s CryptoZoo NFT project is a total mess

Spotify offers Car Thing refunds as it faces lawsuit over bricking the streaming device

by with No Comment Tech

Image Credits: Spotify

Spotify is facing continued backlash over its decision to discontinue support for Car Thing, its in-car streaming device, announced earlier in May. The device will no longer work starting on Dec. 9, 2024, the company said. On TikTok, Gen Z users are posting videos to express their discontent with Spotify’s move and its recommended actions — like switching to Android Auto or CarPlay. Often, they didn’t have access to built-in infotainment systems in their car in the first place, making them a target market for a dedicated player like Car Thing, the users note.

The streaming service’s in-car gadget hadn’t been out on the market long enough to make it obsolete. It launched in February 2022 and was discontinued later that same year but with promises to keep it operational for those who already bought units. Ahead of its launch, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek had suggested there was consumer demand for such a product, telling investors on an earning call that more than 2 million users had signed up on the Car Thing waitlist in anticipation of its release.

Image Credits: Spotify
Image Credits: Spotify

Though Spotify never shared official numbers, it’s likely that Car Thing underperformed or was just not worth continued investment in today’s tighter economic market. The latter saw Spotify laying off around 1,500 staffers late last year, for example, after cuts earlier in the year that had affected hundreds.

Car Thing users, however, don’t care about the company’s financial concerns; they just want their gadget to work, or at least be refunded for its $90 price tag.

That’s led to some trying to directly complain to Spotify via DMs on X with @SpotifyCares or through various Spotify emails shared on Reddit. By doing so, some users reported that Spotify offered them several months of a Premium subscription to make up for their loss, while others claimed they asked customer service and were told no one was being reimbursed.

Spotify tells TechCrunch that it has more recently instituted a refund process for Car Thing, provided the user has proof of purchase.

The ability to reach customer support was officially communicated to Car Thing users in a second email that went out on Friday of last week after the backlash over Car Thing’s discontinuation had grown. In it, Spotify directs users to the correct customer support link to reach out to the company. The email does not promise any refunds, however, but says users can reach out with questions.

While a refund may satisfy some portion of the user base that’s upset over Car Thing, many are still pleading with the company via TikTok videos and in the comments on Spotify’s TikTok posts to please not brick their device. (In fact, complaints about the Car Thing are so now common on Spotify’s videos that the algorithmically recommended search TikTok suggests on some videos is “what is the spotify car thing.”)

“SPOTIFY PLEASE SPARE ME 😭😭😭 I LOVE MY CAR THING,” wrote Carla, a TikTok user who goes by the handle @carlititica on the service.

“Sad,” wrote another user, @nikkilovestech. “It’s like they want people to use their phone which is distracting,” she wrote in the description of her video demoing a Car Thing mounted to her dash. In her video, she also commented on the e-waste that comes from discontinuing a product that still works “perfectly fine.”

Spotify’s headaches around Car Thing’s discontinuation are not over yet, despite the newly introduced — if not widely broadcast — refund process. The company is also facing a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which claims Spotify misled consumers by selling them a soon-to-be obsolete product and then not offering refunds, reports Billboard. The suit was filed on May 28.

Spotify cannot comment on the lawsuit, but a spokesperson shared the following statement about Car Thing:

“The goal of our Car Thing exploration in the U.S. was to learn more about how people listen in the car. In July 2022, we announced we’d stop further production and now it’s time to say goodbye to the devices entirely. Users will have until December 9, 2024 until all Car Thing devices will be deactivated. To learn more about all of the ways you can continue to listen to Spotify in the car, check out For The Record, and Car Thing users can reach out to Customer Support with any questions: https://support.spotify.com/us/contact-spotify-support/”

Though the troubles around Car Thing won’t affect all of Spotify’s user base, the news comes at a time when users are already upset that they’re being asked to pay more for things they consider core to a music service, like access to lyrics, a feature Spotify recently paywalled. In addition to complaints over Car Thing, users are threatening to quit Spotify over the paid access to lyrics.

In addition, Spotify upped its subscription rates last year, and another increase is on its way in 2024, Bloomberg reported.

Logan Paul speaks to fans during the Slap Fighting Championships at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Convention Center on March 05, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio.

Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds, as long as you don't sue him

by with No Comment Tech

Logan Paul speaks to fans during the Slap Fighting Championships at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Convention Center on March 05, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio.

Image Credits: Gaelen Morse / Getty Images

Logan Paul is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, the failed and allegedly fraudulent Pokémon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021. The catch? You can’t sue him if you get a refund.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Thursday, Paul announced that he is “personally committing” more than $2.3 million to buy back NFTs purchased through CryptoZoo. Claims can be submitted online until February 8.

“I never made a single penny from the project, period. In fact, the opposite is true, because I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to make it happen,” Paul said in his post. “Like you, I was highly disappointed that the game was not delivered.”

Claimants will receive 0.1 ETH per eligible NFT — known as “Base Eggs” and “Base Animals.” Players were supposed to be able to “breed” the animals that “hatched” from the base NFT that they purchased, which would create “hybrid” animals that were also NFTs. Hybrid animals are not eligible for the buy-back program.

The form’s terms and conditions also note that any submitted NFTs that Paul “in his sole discretion deems ineligible” will not be returned. To be eligible for a refund, claimants also have to agree to waive any “actual or anticipated claims against Paul” — which means promising not to take legal action against him in relation to CryptoZoo.

The influencer, who faces a class action lawsuit for allegedly making millions of dollars of cryptocurrency by promoting a game that ultimately didn’t exist, also filed a cross-claim. In an X post, he said that he “filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas to hold these bad actors accountable.”

“This lawsuit is the result of an exhaustive investigation that included the review of the entirety of conversations and tracking nefarious trading activity related to the project,” Paul continued in his X post. “Nefarious trading activity taken behind our backs, without our knowledge, and with the intention of defrauding us all.”

Rob Freund, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who represents brands and creators, told TechCrunch that the buy-back program could be Paul’s attempt at minimizing damages. Class action lawsuits can be “devastating” for defendants, as damages can include what the plaintiff and class members initially lost, in addition to punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Freund suggested that by refunding NFTs in exchange for waiving claims against him, Paul can individually settle with class members, effectively minimizing the potential damages.

“Paul may be betting (or at least hoping) that enough people who would otherwise be potential class members will take him up on this offer and drastically reduce his potential exposure in the pending case by doing so,” Freund said. “That would let him angle for a much more favorable settlement.”

Paul described the NFT project as a “really fun game that makes you money” when he announced it during an August 2021 episode of his podcast, “Impaulsive.” CryptoZoo was marketed as a collecting game using Ethereum — each NFT was an egg that was supposed to hatch into an animal that was assigned one of five levels of rarity. Those animals could be bred to produce hybrid animals, which also varied in rarity. Every time an egg hatched, it was supposed to yield a certain amount of $ZOO tokens, which were determined by the animal’s rarity. Players were supposed to be able to either buy more eggs or cash out each time an animal hatched.

Paul also promised that CryptoZoo would include interactive minigames and that the project would eventually “enter the metaverse.”

A three-part investigation by independent YouTube reporter Coffeezilla documented how the project unraveled; the game was never finished because developers quit due to nonpayment, Paul and his associates allegedly planned to engage in market manipulation and players couldn’t breed their hatched eggs or cash out.

Coffeezilla reported that two anonymous accounts received payouts from the project — one received $364,000 (92.7697 ETH) and the other received $1 million (260.000 ETH). At the time of Coffeezilla’s reporting, CryptoZoo held approximately $79,875,629, or 1,214,225,001.8 $ZOO for “wildlife charities and CryptoZoo development.

In now-deleted response videos, Paul accused another CryptoZoo developer of scamming him and the rest of the team, but later told fans on Discord that he would be “taking accountability.” He then outlined a plan to pay back investors and finish the game.

The class action lawsuit filed last year in the Western District of Texas alleges that Paul and other CryptoZoo associates promoted the project to “consumers unfamiliar with digital currency products,” and that they “manipulated the digital currency market for Zoo Tokens to their advantage.”

In an answer and cross claim filed on Thursday, Paul alleged that Jake Greenbaum and Eduardo Ibanez, who worked on CryptoZoo and were also named in the class action lawsuit, were “con artists” who “sabotaged” the project. Paul also claimed while he lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the duplicity and deceit of those he trusted,” Greenbaum and Ibanez pocketed “millions.”

CryptoZoo, however, is dead. Paul posted that after “personally” spending $400,000 to complete it early last year, releasing it was unfeasible. He also reminded followers that the Zoo Token was created to support the game, and was never intended as an “investment vehicle,” so the buy-back is not intended to “compensate those who gambled on the crypto market and lost.”

“Unfortunately, there are too many regulatory hurdles that would need to be cleared that I did not originally understand and would ultimately delay this buy-back even further,” he said. “This buy-back is a way for me to make whole those who intended to play CryptoZoo.”

YouTuber Logan Paul’s CryptoZoo NFT project is a total mess