Red flags of the AI project CryptoGPT
4 min readTable of Contents
“Turn every task of your daily life into a source of income”, is the promise of CryptoGPT. The project attracts investors with NFTs, its own chatbot and apps that allow you to earn money with your data. The supposed business model: AI-to-Earn. The network was launched in January 2023 – there are said to be over two million users who benefit from their fitness, gaming and even dating data. NFTs and your own token should not be missing either.
In short: CryptoGPT can do everything, does everything and is better than the competition – at least that’s what they say boastfully. But a second look reveals gaps in the facade and many red flags.
Dubious founding team
When the founder suddenly disappears, the memories of OneCoin come alive. Jamila Jelani fills this role at CryptoGPT. Her position first changed to “marketer”. Then she finally disappeared completely from the website, which is now den access denied.
Meet the Founder: Jamila Jelani, CryptoGPT CEO 💫
Over the last 8 months, CryptoGPT built an industry-leading team of developers, scientists, marketers, and executives.
Website: https://t.co/1CG3RytMXm pic.twitter.com/OoP3byodet
— CryptoGPT (@CryptoGPT0) March 16, 2023
Against other team members on the new site there are similar allegations. The technical lead, Dejan Erja, claims to have experience with Ripple and Ethereum. tangible information but there is nothing about it. The head of the app ecosystem, Art Bagdonas, is a “respected team leader at various European app startups”. He cannot be found on the internet.
CryptoGPT: just a facade?
The artificial intelligence “Alex” plays a key role in CryptoGPT and is intended to initiate the AI revolution. The “Key to the Infinite Knowledge of the Internet” is called on the website. During the “conversation” with Alex, parallels to another, far better known, artificial intelligence quickly become apparent – ChatGPT. Alex even admits he’s a copycat: “I use the GPT-3 neural network architecture, a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI.” In fact, OpenAI makes their language model available for purchase. In this way, artificial intelligence can be easily integrated into your own products.
CryptoGPT also lied about the app – its own AI reveals this. Instead of converting the anonymized user data into money as promised, the actual function is extremely unspectacular. “The CryptoGPT app is a virtual assistant that gives you information and insights related to cryptocurrency,” explains Alex matter-of-factly.
The claim that the CryptoGPT network has more than 2 million users also seems misguided. The app only has 100,000+ downloads in the Google Play Store. There is no application for the App Store “yet”. “Coming Soon”, promises CryptoGPT.
DWF Investment connected to OneCoin
At the beginning of April CryptoGPT, According to The Block, a $10 million financing. Overnight, the AI company’s valuation grows to $250 million. There’s a catch: the investment is part of a long-term schedule. The investor, DWF Labs, has only received $420,000 in GPT tokens so far.
There are rumors surrounding DWF Labs. There would be a link to the biggest crypto scam of all time, OneCoin. The Managing Partner of DWF Labs, Andrei Grachev, in 2019, at that time as CEO of Huobi Russia, tried, to list OneCoin. On Twitter he rejects the accusation and explains the investment in CryptoGPT as part of the corporate strategy.
GPT Token: Team gets 16 percent
Investors can use the in-house GPT token via Ethereum, Arbitrum and the Binance Smart Chain. Only 20 percent of the three billion tokens are to go public. Selected parties receive the rest, 16 percent of which goes to the team. There is no dedicated mainnet. It is not scheduled to go live until the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the roadmap.
NFTs should not be missing either. On the website, the visitor is overwhelmed with information about the so-called “AI capsule”. The already on OpenSea available NFTs costs 0.017 ETH at the time of writing. “Only advantages, no disadvantages. Do you like NFTs and their liquidity? Satisfied? Keep it. Unsatisfied? Return it and get your money back” advertises the company.
Red flags are raised
CryptoGPT tries to convince investors with buzzwords and many promises. A look behind the facade, however, reveals numerous shortcomings. There are many gaps in the CV of the team. The “revolutionary” AI is a copy of ChatGPT, the app cannot “turn everyday tasks into a source of income” and the dubious investor has connections to OneCoin. In other words, CryptoGPT promises a lot and shows little. The red flags are up.
