Blockworks co-founder Jason Yanowitz said he wouldn’t touch CryptoGPT with a 10-foot pole — going as far as calling the project “an outright scam.”
In a thread detailing his research, Yanowitz raised several red flags — including discrepancies around key personnel and rumors about lead investor DWF Labs.
CryptoGPT wins strategic funding
On April 10, CryptoGPT announced acquiring a $250 million company valuation — leading to a $10 million strategic investment from DWF Labs.
The firm said it intends to use the money to further develop its AI Web3 technology and expand into the Asian market.
CryptoGPT positions itself as an AI-driven technology designed for retail users to monetize their data, thereby reducing the influence of Web2 giants like Google and Meta.
Moreover, they expect AI proliferation to lead to data becoming more valuable — as high-quality data is needed to train AI algorithms.
The DWF Labs funding took the price of GPT to as high as $0.07532 yesterday — marking a year-to-date gain of 63%. However, even at yesterday’s high, the token is significantly below its year-to-date peak of $0.1446, achieved on March 17.
Red flags
Yanowitz said it was “absurd” that CryptoGPT has two million users, considering the platform launched “a few months ago.” He also criticized the project’s heavy use of buzzwords, such as “AI assistant,” “ZK rollup layer 2 blockchain,” and “data-to-AI engine.”
Likewise, Yanowitz drew exception to using YouTube influencers to market the project. While also saying its second token, DXP, “isn’t even a token” yet.
Additionally, there is concern about the company’s key personnel. It was pointed out that CEO and founder Jamila Jelani was later listed as a Marketer on the site but has since been removed altogether.
Similarly, CTO Dejan Erja claims to have worked at Ripple, yet Yanowitz could not verify that information. He also doubted whether Ecosystem Lead Art Bagdonas is a real person.
Linking @nay_gmy’s analysis on DWF Labs, Yanowitz said he doesn’t know much about the market marker. But rumors about the company raise suspicions.
@nay_gmy pointed out several inconsistencies between reported investments and on-chain data. He said a possible explanation could be that DWF Labs is selling tokens on behalf of teams and incorrectly calling those transactions strategic partnerships or investments.
“I guess one explanation is that they sell tokens on behalf of teams for not less than $x and send money upfront, pocketing delta. Many deals have 10-20% discounts, but some have none.“
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