Artificial intelligence [AI] has taken over the entire globe. The ever-rising hype around this technology has prompted an array of them to explore AI waters. Now, an Ethereum-based layer 2 called CryptoGPT that uses the zkRollup technology, has managed to raise $10 million in funding.
Following a Series A round led by DWF Labs, the total valuation of the AI-focused blockchain surged to $250 million. The network, clearly inspired by ChatGPT, stands out for several reasons. One of them is because it wants to end the monopoly of big tech so that “you own the monetization of your AI data.” This includes several industries like education, gaming, dating as well as fitness.
Secondly, “instead of applying ZK technology to payments, CryptoGPT integrates it for private data transfers.” The price of the network’s native token launched in March began surging. GPT is currently priced at $0.07211. Amidst this, the crypto community grew curious and began investigating the firm.
“CryptoGPT an outright scam”
AI-themed crypto assets have been emerging alongside the technology. However, this fervor has opened doors to scammy projects as well. More recently, an AI-based DeFi project stole $1 million from its users. Therefore, the community wanted to be sure about pouring their funds into these networks and decided to investigate CryptoGPT.
Several prominent Twitter users called out CryptoGPT due to several reasons. For instance, the network was launched in January 2023 and it already claims to entail 2 million users. The Twitter account of the firm currently at 181.3K followers but isn’t a verified profile. Additionally, the latest funding that the firm received also did not sit well with many as it was led by DWF alone.
Blockchain sleuth also found the aforementioned things suspicious along with the almost immediate token launch. What surprised the community, even more, was the fact that GPT managed to garner a listing on Bybit and Bitfinex.
A few others dug deeper and decided to examine the management behind CryptoGPT. Jamila Jelani has reportedly been listed as the CEO as well as the founder of the network. However, her role was shifted to “marketer” and now Jelani has vanished from the site. This wasn’t all. The CTO of the firm. Dejan Erja revealed that he has worked at RippleNet. Sadly there was limited information about his role at the firm.
Additionally, Jason Yanowitz also pointed out how Art Bagdonas, the ecosystem lead at CryptoGPT has nearly zero online presence. It is quite common for the legitimacy of newly formed projects to be questioned. While it is truly uncertain if this is a legit project, the above pointers have certainly sown seeds of suspicion among many key crypto proponets.