Jeffy Yu, the 22-year-old founder of the AI-blockchain project Zerebro, stunned the crypto world after allegedly live-streaming his suicide by gunshot on Pump.fun on May 4, sending shockwaves across online communities.
Shortly after the incident, an online obituary surfaced on Legacy.com, announcing his death. However, the local coroner’s office later confirmed that no deaths under the surname “Yu” had been recorded. The obituary was subsequently deleted from the website, adding to the confusion.
At the same time, a new token named LLJEFFY suddenly appeared on the Solana blockchain, skyrocketing by 2,115% to reach a market cap of $105 million. The timing fueled widespread suspicion that the entire incident might have been a carefully orchestrated stunt. The LLJEFFY token is believed to be connected to a mysterious “from beyond the grave” post allegedly made by Jeffy Yu, in which he referenced a token called “Legacoin”—a supposed memorial coin for the deceased.
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Evidence of Staging and Blockchain Traces
Crypto investigator @Vee uncovered that Jeffy Yu’s associated wallet continued to sell Zerebro tokens, convert them to USDC, and transfer the funds to the wallet that created LLJEFFY. Analysis from Bubblemaps confirmed that roughly 100,000 Zerebro tokens were dumped and swapped into Legacoin. Following the revelations, LLJEFFY’s value collapsed by over 80%.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) claimed to possess a letter from Jeffy addressed to investors, in which he admitted staging the suicide to escape extreme pressure, threats, and blackmail. However, this information has not been independently verified.
Media Stunt or Sign of a Deeper Crisis?
Zerebro was once hailed as a pioneering project merging AI and blockchain, with a market cap exceeding $8 billion, propelling Jeffy Yu into stardom within the tech and crypto communities. Now, however, his X account is locked, and the Zerebro team has gone completely silent, further fueling public skepticism.
This isn’t the first time the crypto community has witnessed “fake death” tactics used to manipulate token prices. In the past, live-streamed acts of self-immolation or hanging have also been exposed as staged. These events raise an unsettling question: How far can ethical boundaries be stretched in the name of crypto hype? Are such incidents merely the actions of desperate individuals, or do they signal a deeper existential crisis in the industry?
