Stephen Findeisen — Much-Needed Crusader of the Crypto World?

For anyone in the crypto space, newbie or veteran, Bitcoin holder or Altcoin fanboy, millionaire or pauper, there is one thing that they all have in common: an encounter with a scammer. Be it the “wanna double your investment?” text on Telegram or the more complex pump and dumps  — there’s no escaping it.

Now, scams are not new. From the Eiffel tower selling Victor Lustig to the infamous Charles Ponzi, frauds and fraudsters have been an integral part of our collective memory.

But today’s snake oil salesmen have transcended the confines of ensnaring hapless pensioners and moved to the digital space. And because of its unregulated nature, the world of crypto seems to be the perfect petri dish for those looking to writhe their way into the pockets of unsuspecting victims.

But where there are villains, there are heroes as well.

Today, unearthing scams is a field of study in itself: most of its scholars emanate wisdom in the welcoming and abundant space of YouTube. Much of this space is currently occupied by unemployed white women warning fellow housewives about the entrapments of multi-level marketing schemes (far too many of which oddly revolve around essential oils).

And amid this vast pool of YouTube crusaders is Stephen Findeisen, aka Coffeezilla. With over 1 million followers, Findeisen is the one-man force behind taking down high-reach frauds such as the SafeMoon project.

SafeMoon is supposedly a scam crypto project masquerading as a safe investment vehicle. It rose quickly to popularity and was even endorsed by YouTube sensation Jake Paul. Hats off to those who figured that nothing associated with Jake Paul could ever be legitimate.

When SafeMoon crashed a few months after its glorious launch (with a four-billion-dollar market cap mind you), Findeisen took it upon himself to uncover the reason behind this unraveling. The investigative YouTuber went to extreme lengths to unmask the conman behind SafeMoon and unearthed an unusual suspect — an influencer who served as SafeMoon’s Chief Marketing Officer — Ben Philips.

It’s quite disappointing that instead of a deep-voiced hooded villain in a dimly-lit room, the mastermind behind the pump and dump turned out to be a YouTuber who specialized in prank videos — some of them as mind-bogglingly moronic as “I superglued beer goggles to my bro”.

However, despite the massive number of crypto scams, Findeisen is not anti-crypto. He’s a Bitcoin holder himself. “I think about how we can shape [crypto] into something better — more like the future that the people making it say they want. In that way, we’re on the same side,” says the crypto crusader.

With the overwhelming influx of fraudulent coins and scammers eyeing any and all opportunities to make a quick buck, the need for such investigators cannot be overstated. So, to cut a long story short — the crypto world needs more Findeisens.