Who Is Coffeezilla, the YouTube Detective Exposing Crypto Scams?

Introducing: Coffeezilla

Who Is Coffeezilla?

Coffeezilla, whose real name is Stephen Findeisen, is a 38-year-old American YouTuber and citizen journalist who has built a substantial following of over three million subscribers on YouTube. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, demonstrating his analytical background and technical expertise.

Coffeezilla launched his YouTube channel in 2018 and initially maintained anonymity until he was doxxed in 2020. The doxxing incident involved malicious websites publishing his full name, old address, and defunct phone number, along with various false accusations designed to discredit his investigative work.

What Does Coffeezilla Do?

Coffeezilla is a YouTube content creator whose platform is dedicated to investigating and exposing scams and fraud perpetrated by 'financial gurus' and companies across various industries.

After completing his engineering degree, Stephen began posting content on his YouTube channel while working for a local builder to support himself. His content evolved gradually from short videos discussing pop science topics to in-depth commentary critiquing individuals and companies promoting multi-level marketing schemes and fraudulent business practices.

Stephen's content has consistently focused on exposing fake gurus and their get-rich-quick schemes that prove detrimental to unsuspecting audiences. As his subscriber base expanded and his reputation grew, he began tackling increasingly complex and high-profile scams in the cryptocurrency space, web3 technologies, and decentralized finance ecosystems.

Coffeezilla employs thorough investigation techniques and detailed analysis of crypto influencers and blockchain projects to educate his viewers about potential pitfalls and scams they may encounter in the digital asset space. His methodical approach combines financial analysis, blockchain forensics, and traditional investigative journalism techniques.

He has earned a strong reputation in the crypto community for exposing how fraudulent cryptocurrency projects exploit traditional celebrities and internet influencers to promote pump-and-dump schemes. His critical and evidence-based approach to investigating these individuals and projects has established him as one of the most notable and respected crypto investigators in the industry.

Coffeezilla has publicly called out influencers like Dillon Danis, Jake Paul, and Logan Paul, entrepreneurs such as Eddie Ibanez and Sam Bankman-Fried, and has exposed numerous prominent crypto scams that have defrauded investors of millions of dollars.

What Motivated Coffeezilla to Start Investigating Crypto Scams?

Coffeezilla shared with Lex Fridman in a 2022 podcast episode that his interest in exposing scams developed after his mother was diagnosed with cancer. During this difficult period, he witnessed numerous unscrupulous individuals peddling fraudulent health cures and miracle treatments to his mother, leaving him with a profound distaste for deceptive marketing practices and those who exploit vulnerable people.

During his college years, Coffeezilla observed his friends being drawn into multi-level marketing schemes and subscribing to ineffective financial advice publications that promised wealth but delivered disappointment. These personal experiences created a strong motivation to hunt down scammers and hold them publicly accountable for their harmful actions.

When he discovered the cryptocurrency industry, he realized it had a significant and growing problem with scams and fraudulent projects, yet very few people were dedicating themselves to investigating and exposing these schemes. He wanted to fill this critical gap in the ecosystem and shine a light on unethical practices that were harming everyday investors.

What Are Some of the Challenges Coffeezilla Has Faced?

Producing investigative videos that expose scams and publicly call out celebrities and entrepreneurs has resulted in significant backlash for Coffeezilla. The YouTuber has been threatened with legal action on multiple occasions and has received numerous cease and desist letters from lawyers representing the individuals and projects he investigates.

The backlash also comes from delusional "investors" of the projects he exposes who refuse to accept they've been scammed. Coffeezilla frequently gets attacked online by these defensive "investors" when he posts his investigative content on Twitter and YouTube, with some sending threatening messages and attempting to discredit his work.

The most serious online attack occurred when he was doxxed, and someone maliciously released his personal details to the public. The doxxing campaign also included false and incriminating rumors alleging he was a cocaine user and domestic abuser, forcing him to create a video addressing these fabricated accusations. Before this incident, Stephen had successfully maintained a pseudonymous persona on his YouTube channel to protect his privacy and safety.

In an effort to protect himself from future lawsuits, Coffeezilla now adds a legal disclaimer to all his videos. These disclaimers state that the contents of his videos represent his opinions based on available evidence and are not definitive statements of fact, providing him with some legal protection.

Why Is Coffeezilla Important?

In recent years, developments in cryptocurrency and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have attracted tremendous attention to web3 technologies and decentralized finance. However, this surge of interest has unfortunately increased the frequency of scams, hacks, and fraudulent schemes in the industry, putting billions of dollars of investor funds at risk. Independent investigators like Coffeezilla work tirelessly to make web3 safer by uncovering scams and keeping crypto companies accountable to their communities.

Coffeezilla and other independent investigators play an essential role because the cryptocurrency industry largely lacks proper regulation and is mostly left to the community to self-monitor and police. Moreover, most retail investors lack the time, technical knowledge, and investigative skills to conduct deep-dive research on crypto projects, making them vulnerable to sophisticated scams. They need guidance and protection from dedicated investigators like Stephen who can expose fraudulent schemes before more people lose money.

Crypto investigators employ various sophisticated techniques and leverage blockchain technology's transparent and immutable nature to uncover scams and track fraudulent transactions. Coffeezilla invests substantial time and financial resources to track down stolen cryptocurrency or NFTs, follow up on suspicious projects, and interview key figures involved in potential scams. This unwavering commitment to investigative journalism aims to educate and protect people while working to make web3 a safer and more legitimate industry.

Rather than allowing the cryptocurrency ecosystem to maintain a shaky reputation riddled with scams and fraud that deters mainstream adoption, investigators like Coffeezilla can help transform crypto into a more welcoming and trustworthy space for both enthusiasts and beginners.

How Does Coffeezilla Make Money?

Coffeezilla likely earns a significant portion of his revenue from his YouTube channel through the platform's advertisement revenue-sharing program. YouTube shares a percentage of revenue from the advertisements displayed on his videos with content creators based on various factors. The amount he receives from the platform depends on video engagement metrics, total views, watch time, and overall channel performance. Unlike many other YouTubers who accept brand sponsorships, Coffeezilla maintains his independence by refusing to accept sponsors, ensuring his content remains unbiased.

He also operates a Patreon account where dedicated channel members contribute $5 monthly to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, early video releases, and additional investigative materials. This subscription model provides a stable and predictable income stream while building a community of supporters who value his work.

Another revenue source for the creator has been through selling branded merchandise. Many successful YouTubers create and sell merchandise related to their content and channel identity, and Coffeezilla has run several limited merchandise sales campaigns in the past, offering items like t-shirts, hoodies, and accessories featuring his brand.

Alleged Scams Uncovered by Coffeezilla

Coffeezilla has established himself as one of the most prominent crypto investigators, known for his meticulous research and successful uncovering of cryptocurrency scam projects. Let's examine some of the most notable alleged and confirmed fraud cases in the crypto markets that he has investigated and exposed to the public.

CryptoZoo

Logan Paul, a prominent YouTuber and online influencer with millions of followers, first endorsed the CryptoZoo project in August 2021 on his popular podcast 'Impaulsive.' CryptoZoo was marketed as an innovative play-to-earn game offering handmade digital art in the form of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), promising players the opportunity to earn money while playing.

The project was designed as a Pokémon-inspired game where players could purchase NFT eggs and hatch them to reveal different digital animals. The gameplay mechanic allowed players to breed these animals to create unique hybrid creatures that could supposedly be sold for $ZOO tokens, which could then be converted to real money.

Logan Paul aggressively promoted CryptoZoo as a legitimate opportunity for players to generate substantial income within the game ecosystem and convert the earned tokens into fiat currency. CryptoZoo officially launched in September 2021 with 10,000 NFT eggs valued at approximately 0.285 ETH (roughly $400 at the time) each, generating millions in initial sales.

However, when eager buyers hatched their expensive eggs, they discovered generic stock photos of random animals rather than the promised handmade artwork, and there was no functional mechanism to yield $ZOO tokens or generate the promised income.

A year after the launch, Coffeezilla released a comprehensive three-part investigative series on CryptoZoo, alleging that the development team engaged in deliberate market manipulation and fraud. He presented evidence criticizing Logan Paul's team, which included Eddie Ibanez and Jake Greenbaum (known as "The Crypto King"), claiming they collectively made millions of dollars by cashing out their positions early while ordinary investors lost money.

Logan Paul initially responded to Coffeezilla's investigation by posting a video threatening legal action against the investigator, but he never actually filed a lawsuit. Paul later deleted the threatening video and issued a public apology to Coffeezilla and the people who invested in CryptoZoo, promising refunds from his personal ETH supply. The proposed $1.3 million reward program was intended to compensate investors who lost money in the project, and Paul also promised to burn all his remaining $ZOO tokens.

Coffeezilla has persistently followed up with Paul regarding the promised refunds after exposing the scam, but the influencer has yet to fulfill his commitment to pay back his fans and investors.

A class action lawsuit was subsequently filed against Logan Paul and his team for their involvement in the CryptoZoo scheme. The legal complaint stated, "unbeknownst to the customers, the game did not work or never existed, and Defendants manipulated the digital currency market for Zoo Tokens to their advantage."

Dillon Danis

Dillon Danis is a 30-year-old former MMA fighter with an extensive background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions. Danis has built a substantial social media following with over 800,000 followers on Twitter and two million followers on Instagram, making him an attractive target for crypto scammers seeking influencer promotion.

He has been repeatedly called out by crypto investigator ZachXBT on Twitter for promoting obvious scams and participating in pump-and-dump schemes without disclosing his paid relationships with these fraudulent projects.

In February 2023, Coffeezilla released a groundbreaking video titled "I Scammed Dillon Danis," revealing that he had paid the influencer $1,000 to promote a completely fake NFT project as part of an elaborate sting operation. In the video, Stephen explained how he used an intermediary to approach Dillon with what he described as the "weakest facade possible" for the fake project, yet the influencer never questioned its legitimacy or conducted any due diligence.

The fake NFT project link that Dillon promoted to his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers led to a website displaying screenshots of all the scam tweets he had ever posted, publicly exposing his pattern of promoting fraudulent projects. Coffeezilla, working in collaboration with ZachXBT, documented over 20 different projects that Dillon had promoted to his audience, with many of them being confirmed scams and rug pulls that cost investors money.

Dillon promoted the fake project tweet without even reading the contract that clearly outlined how the NFT project was fabricated, demonstrating his complete lack of due diligence.

Coffeezilla successfully proved through this sting operation that influencers like Dillon Danis don't perform their due diligence nor properly vet the crypto projects and NFTs they promote to their trusting audiences. The influencer also failed to disclose that it was a paid advertisement, violating FTC guidelines that require clear disclosure of paid promotional relationships.

Save the Kids Crypto Scandal

Save the Kids token was launched in June 2021 and was aggressively promoted by numerous social media influencers as a charitable cryptocurrency token that would benefit children's causes. Influencers who publicly announced they were serving as brand ambassadors for the project included several Faze Clan members: Kay (Frazier Khattri), Teeqo, and Jarvis Nikan (Nikan Nadims), among others with millions of combined followers.

Coffeezilla conducted a thorough investigation of the project and discovered it was a sophisticated pump-and-dump scheme that cynically exploited influencers to artificially inflate the token price before orchestrating a massive coordinated sell-off. His blockchain analysis revealed that all the whale wallets holding large amounts of the coin sold off their entire positions immediately after the public launch, causing the value of Save the Kids token to crash and devastating retail investors.

Save the Kids token quickly became a notorious failed crypto project, and Coffeezilla posted several follow-up videos investigating whether the influencers who promoted it were also victims of the scam or were knowing participants in the fraudulent scheme.

Several influencers hastily deleted their tweets promoting the project and claimed ignorance of the rug pull, attempting to distance themselves from the scandal. Consequently, Faze Kay was permanently expelled from Faze Clan for his role in the project, while the other involved members received suspensions. Coffeezilla's investigation found that Kay had dumped all of his Save the Kids tokens immediately after launch and had established a pattern of suspicious selling behavior across multiple projects.

SBF

Sam Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, was the founder and CEO of FTX, which was once the third-largest crypto derivatives exchange platform in the world. FTX dramatically collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, shocking the entire cryptocurrency industry and causing billions in losses.

The disgraced founder was arrested and charged with multiple counts of fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy after prosecutors alleged he diverted billions of dollars in customer funds from FTX to his hedge fund company, Alameda Research. He also allegedly misappropriated these funds for personal use, including real estate purchases and political donations.

Coffeezilla conducted three separate interviews with Sam Bankman-Fried in the months leading up to his arrest, demonstrating remarkable foresight in investigating the situation. In one of these revealing interviews, SBF allegedly made admissions about co-mingling customer funds from FTX with Alameda Research's trading activities, statements that would later be used as evidence in the criminal case against him.

SafeMoon

SafeMoon is a cryptocurrency token that launched in 2021 on a major blockchain platform, quickly gaining attention through aggressive marketing and celebrity endorsements. High-profile celebrities like rapper Lil' Yachty, Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, and influencer Logan Paul endorsed the token, significantly boosting its popularity and market capitalization.

SafeMoon has no real utility or practical use case and is primarily designed to reward long-term holders through a transaction fee mechanism. The token charges a 10% fee on every transaction, with 5% of the fee distributed proportionally to existing SafeMoon holders and the other 5% going to liquidity pools. This reward system was marketed as encouraging long-term investment and disincentivizing sellers, creating what promoters called "reflections."

In April 2022, Coffeezilla launched a comprehensive series of investigative videos detailing his research and findings on SafeMoon. Through careful analysis of the blockchain and smart contract code, he discovered that the founder was slowly executing a rug pull by extracting value from the project over time.

While the project leaders repeatedly claimed a rug pull was technically impossible due to the smart contract design, Coffeezilla revealed that the source code used for SafeMoon was copied from another token that had previously been rug-pulled, raising serious red flags about the project's legitimacy.

A class action lawsuit was filed against the creators of SafeMoon and all the celebrities and influencers who promoted the token to their audiences. The defendants stand accused of orchestrating a pump and dump scheme that defrauded investors. The legal case remains ongoing as of this writing.

Independent Investigators Play an Important Role in Web3

Coffeezilla and other independent investigators in the cryptocurrency space serve as a crucial check and balance in the ecosystem, filling a vital role that traditional regulatory bodies have been slow to address. The crypto industry remains largely unregulated across most jurisdictions, and Coffeezilla stands as one of the few dedicated individuals fighting to increase accountability and create widespread awareness of fraudulent schemes that harm everyday investors. His critical, evidence-based approach to these investigations distinguishes him from other crypto content creators who may have conflicts of interest or lack investigative rigor. Through his persistent work, Coffeezilla helps protect newcomers to the space and contributes to building a more trustworthy and sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem.

FAQ

Who is Coffeezilla and why did he start investigating cryptocurrency scams?

Coffeezilla, real name Stephen Findeisen, is a renowned YouTube investigator with over 3 million subscribers dedicated to exposing cryptocurrency scams and fraud. He began investigating due to growing concerns about deceptive practices and financial fraud plaguing the crypto industry.

Coffeezilla exposed which famous cryptocurrency fraud cases?

Coffeezilla exposed the Ice Poseidon crypto scam, revealing it as a Ponzi scheme. He uncovered fraudulent schemes operated by prominent crypto figures, highlighting risks of unregulated cryptocurrency investments and demonstrating how scammers exploit investor trust in the crypto space.

What are Coffeezilla's investigation methods? How does he collect evidence?

Coffeezilla collects evidence by analyzing social media, transaction records, and public blockchain data. He uses detailed investigation techniques to expose fraudulent activities and regulatory violations through comprehensive data analysis and user behavior examination.

How many subscribers does Coffeezilla's YouTube channel have? How influential is he?

Coffeezilla's YouTube channel boasts over 1 million subscribers, making him a significant influencer in the crypto and finance space. His investigative content on scams and fraud has garnered substantial attention and impact within the Web3 community.

Can watching Coffeezilla's videos help me identify crypto scams?

Yes, Coffeezilla's videos effectively help identify crypto scams by exposing fraudulent schemes and suspicious projects. His investigative content provides valuable insights into common scam tactics, red flags, and deceptive practices. However, always verify information with official sources and conduct independent research before making investment decisions.

Coffeezilla曝光过哪些知名的加密项目或人物？

Coffeezilla曝光了Logan Paul、Khabib等知名人物推广的加密货币骗局。他通过视频调查揭露虚假NFT项目、诈骗性代币和误导性宣传，成为加密行业的监督者。

Has Coffeezilla faced legal lawsuits or threats?

Yes, Coffeezilla has faced legal threats and received multiple cease-and-desist letters from lawyers representing scammers he exposed. However, these threats have not deterred him from continuing his investigations into cryptocurrency fraud.