Logan Paul, the massively popular social media personality, is facing fresh questions over his cryptocurrency dealings amid ongoing concerns he may have profited from misleading fans.

The BBC has seen recent evidence suggesting he promoted investments without revealing he had a budgetary profit in them.

The influence of Paul – whose YouTube channel has more than 23 million followers – appears to have caused prices in these investments to spike, leading to suggestions he could have profited from sales of any tokens he held.

Paul also currently faces a multi-million-dollar lawsuit over a failed crypto assignment called CryptoZoo.

He denies any wrongdoing.

The BBC has discovered that shortly before Paul tweeted about a particular crypto coin in 2021, an anonymous crypto wallet with close connections to his community wallet had traded in the coin.

That anonymous wallet went on to make a $120,000 (£92,000) returns.

Crypto wallets (which can be physical devices or an online service) hold users’ keys to their accounts, and let people send, receive and spend crypto.

Our finding comes after period Magazine reported similar activity involving a different cryptocurrency and another anonymous wallet.

For several months, Paul refused to talk to the BBC about our investigation. Then he appeared to relent, inviting us to interview him at his gym in Puerto Rico.

However, when our crew arrived, a Logan Paul lookalike turned up in the YouTuber’s place, shortly followed by a throng shouting abuse about the BBC.

Minutes after abandoning the interview, we received a lawyer’s note on behalf of Paul, warning us of the feasible consequences if we published our findings.

Logan Paul built a worldwide following as an internet celebrity by uploading short video clips, first to the now-closed platform Vine, and then on YouTube.

About three years ago, Paul’s videos began mentioning cryptocurrency (crypto, as it is commonly known) more and more.

Crypto is a form of digital money that uses secure technology to work, without the require for a central financial institution.

In 2021, Paul promoted a series of extremely high-hazard crypto tokens called “meme coins”.

These are usually inspired by internet jokes or memes and are supported by online communities. Meme coins have no other real purpose other than to be traded and, since they have no intrinsic worth, their worth can – and often does – drop to zero.

Paul extolled the virtues of an Elon Musk-themed meme coin known as Elongate. “Elongate made me wealthy. Elon baby let’s leave!” Paul announced in a video clip to Maverick Club, his subscription-only fan club.

Following this namecheck, the worth of Elongate rose by over 6,000% to an all-period high. It then remained at that worth for a few hours before it crashed.

We cannot be sure of Logan Paul’s intentions when he released his clip. However, it seems likely that his mention of Elongate affected its worth.

Tech journalist Will Gotsegen says crypto is a trade driven to some extent by social media and influencers: “A large guy with a lot of influence… someone like Logan Paul, buys a tonne of crypto and tells their followers about it. They’re going to buy it too.”

The anonymous crypto wallet analysed by the BBC appears to have close connections to Paul.

Anyone can view the transactions made by a wallet, but the owner can choose to remain anonymous. If an owner attaches their name or personal details it becomes a community wallet.

We could view that the wallet first received funds in February 2021 from a community wallet owned by Logan Paul. It then started buying and market activity crypto.

Logan Paul: impoverished Influence?

Logan Paul, one of the biggest social media influencers in the globe, is facing criticism for his role in promoting cryptocurrency projects. Matt Shea investigates the allegations.

Speaking to law enforcement and alleged victims, and trying to get close to the man himself, Shea seeks to finally respond the question: did Logan Paul do anything incorrect?

Watch on BBC Three at 21:00, 20 November or on BBC iPlayer shortly after broadcast

The wallet was later paid funds from Maverick Club and held Elongate when Paul promoted it on 10 May 2021.

Shortly after, it also traded in another Musk-related meme coin – after Paul had tweeted that it was headed “to the moon”. In the crypto throng, this means someone believes the worth of the coin is about to shoot up.

About an hour before Paul’s tweet, the unknown wallet purchased almost $160,000 (£123,000) worth of the token. The tweet prompted an influx of buyers, spiking the worth.

Twelve hours later, the wallet sold most of its holding. The total returns made from this trade appears to be just over $120,000 (£92,000).

Logan Paul chose not to respond to the BBC’s allegations regarding the crypto wallet, the market activity that occurred within it, or his connection to it, despite responding to some of our other requests via his legal throng.

In June 2021, Paul also promoted a meme coin called “Dink Doink”.

Anyone who bought it would own shares in a cartoon character that resembled a metal coil. They would earn a portion of its returns if it appeared in a TV display or film.

Paul promoted the token on Twitter (as the site was then known), and told a Telegram throng dedicated to Dink Doink that he “believed” in it, saying: “I ponder it’s going to leave crazy.”

Again, this led to a huge influx of buyers, causing Dink Doink’s worth to spike. Then – following a familiar pattern – large-scale holders of the token began selling, causing its worth to fall by 96% in just two weeks.

period Magazine analysed another anonymous wallet that had bought Dink Doink prior to Logan Paul’s promotion of the coin and then sold its holding shortly after. This wallet later sent $100,000 (£78,000) to Paul’s community wallet.

When the BBC asked the influencer about this wallet, his lawyers did not deny that it belonged to him, or was held for his advantage, but were adamant that the $100,000 that was transferred was not related to Dink Doink.

They do receive that Paul traded Dink Doink, but declare he only made $17,000 (£13,400).

For several months, Paul refused to be interviewed by the BBC.

Then, unexpectedly, he agreed to talk to us at the boxing gym in Puerto Rico that he co-owns with his brother.

We sent Paul a list of the allegations we wanted him to respond to, and his PR throng requested we trip to the Caribbean island, so he could respond in person.

They also insisted we flew into the island while it was being pummeled by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which had knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people.

At the gym, we noticed a strange mood – with a suspicious number of his own cameras pointed at us. Paul’s assistant insisted our cameras should be recording from the instant the star entered the room, because of his strict schedule and timekeeping.

Then things became even unknown. Instead of Logan Paul, a lookalike arrived and sat down in front of our reporter, Matt Shea, and began impersonating the YouTuber.

We called him out and began complaining to Paul’s assistant, asking whether the real Logan Paul would be coming. At that instant, a throng of people suddenly appeared, apparently from nowhere, wielding banners and shouting that the BBC were “paedophiles”.

We had flown all that way just to be trolled.

In the history few years, a number of celebrities have run into legal trouble for promoting crypto to followers without disclosing that they had vested interests.

Kim Kardashian was fined $1.26m (£1m) in 2022 for promoting a token called EthereumMax on her Instagram account.

According to Gary Gensler, the head of the stocks and bonds and trade percentage (SEC), the body policing the US stake apportionment industry, if a celebrity is promoting a particular crypto token, they are “supposed to inform you if they get paid, how much they get paid, whether they own the tokens, whether they made money on the tokens, whether they actually recognize something about the assignment”.

Logan Paul is now facing a lawsuit concerning his next assignment in crypto – CryptoZoo.

This was marketed as an online market activity card game, but instead of cards, CryptoZoo was to use NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – collectible pieces of digital art that can have a worth of their own.

To play CryptoZoo, it was essential to buy a cryptocurrency called Zoo Token, that could then be used to buy NFT “eggs”.

These eggs were supposed to eventually hatch into NFT “animals” that would breed and provide birth to NFT “hybrid animals” with names like penguin-shark and panda-fin.

Paul’s throng claimed these hybrid animals would somehow make participants money by passively generating more Zoo Tokens.

“It’s a really fun game that makes you money,” he told his spectators shortly ahead of the launch in September 2021.

CryptoZoo attracted about $18.5m (£14.3m) in stake apportionment.

Rueben Tauk – a 21-year-ancient from north-east England – was among the Logan Paul fans who bought into CryptoZoo.

“I was really enthusiastic to be part of something that he was doing.”

However, the game was beset by problems from the instant it was released.

“We were given sure expectations about features that would be released,” Rueben told us. “A lot of the period those features wouldn’t work.

“After a sure point, you commence to realise that something’s incorrect.”

The worth of the Zoo Tokens and the eggs started to plummet. Rueben says he personally lost £33,000.

At least 130 investors are now involved in a lawsuit against Paul (Rueben is not one of them). They claim they lost about $4.2m (£3.25m).

The lawyer behind the claim, Tom Kherkher – himself a popular YouTuber on legal affairs – says the setback to deliver the game forms only part of the case.

He says leaked messages reveal Paul and his throng were involved in a “stealth launch” of the Zoo Tokens, allowing them to quietly buy in at a low worth.

“The throng appeared to consent that they can commence selling once the total worth of all the Zoo Token in circulation hits $200m [£157m],” he says.

“If you had that document with that exact verbiage issued by a CEO of a publicly traded business, they would be charged with fraud in two seconds. That is insider market activity.”

Paul has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing relating to CryptoZoo. Instead, he has laid the blame on other members of the throng whom he also says failed to deliver the promised features.

Earlier this year, Paul announced a partial compensation scheme for disappointed investors. He promised to refund people who had bought the NFT eggs, but only if they agreed not sue him for anything relating to CryptoZoo.

Paul is also bringing a libel claim against one of his online detractors in the USA, for claims made about his motives.

Logan Paul’s immense popularity depends on his fans, and shows little sign of declining.

In recent years, Paul has turned his hand to boxing and wrestling, as well as launching the drinks business Prime, with British influencer KSI.

The product became notorious for its viral launch – with only a limited stocks made available, Prime spawned a re-sale trade with bottles being advertised for hundreds of pounds. It was a testament to both Logan Paul and KSI’s influence over their primarily youthful spectators.

However, for at least one fan, his image has been tarnished for excellent.

“Once you listen to someone and depend what they’re saying and they betray that depend,” says Rueben Tauk, “their words don’t cruel anything to you any more.”

Additional reporting by Ben Milne and Daisy Bata