The first "pseudo-dead Rashomon" in the history of encryption? Zerebro co-created Jeffy's full record of the fake death scandal

Written by KarenZ, Foresight News

This week, in the cryptocurrency world, the "fake death" of Jeffy Yu, the founder of the Zerebro project, has undoubtedly become the most controversial event.

From the outbreak of "suicide" rumors to the gradual revelation of the truth of "fake death", some people denounced his market manipulation behavior, while others sympathized with his suffering, believing that it was "forced to survive".

Is this an elaborate hoax? Or is it an extreme portrayal of the struggle of human nature in the crypto ecosystem?

Act I: Death Live and the Legacy Coin Declaration

The incident began on May 4, 2025, with 22-year-old Jeffy Yu conducting a live broadcast on the pump.fun platform, however, the live broadcast ended in a horrific way. Multiple community users claimed, "Jeffy Yu committed suicide during the live broadcast, and after Jeffy finished smoking a cigarette, he put a gun to his neck and pulled the trigger, and then the screen fell silent."

The video quickly spread on Twitter, and the crypto community was instantly enveloped in mourning. However, since the authenticity of the video has not been officially confirmed, some users have begun to question whether the incident was some kind of marketing stunt.

Prior to this livestream, Jeffy Yu posted an article about "Legacoin" that also attracted attention. He proposed the concept of "legacy memecoin" Legacin (derived from legacy memecoin), the core of which is that developers promise to only buy and not sell related assets, and permanently lock them on the blockchain after their death, so as to achieve "the eternal survival of digital heritage".

ON THE DAY OF THE LIVESTREAM, A TOKEN CALLED LLJEFFY WENT LIVE ON THE pump.fun PLATFORM.

Act II: The obituary is published, and community members post condolences

On May 5, the obituary platform Legacy released a news about Jeffy Yu's death and detailed his resume: he entered Stanford University at the age of 15 to major in computer science, then attended Northeastern University and Arizona State University, worked as a software engineer in Santa Cruz at the age of 19, co-founded the company at the age of 21 and pushed his market value to $800 million in six months. The obituary said Jeffy Yu died at the age of 22, but did not mention the specific cause of death.

Jeffy Yu, who is mentioned in the obituary, is widely believed by the community to be the co-founder of Zerebro. Currently, Jeffy Yu's official X account and Zerebro's official X account are no longer available. This has convinced many that Jeffy Yu has indeed passed away. Community members posted in mourning.

Act III: The death switch is triggered, and the truth is revealed

Of course, the author is personally skeptical and cautious about this. One reason for this is that the Legacy platform allows users to publish obituaries for a fee.

Sure enough, just as the community was wallowing in grief, a timed post from Jeffy Yu's Mirror account surfaced on May 6. The article states, "If you're reading this, it's because my 72-hour death switch was triggered. At least physically, I'm no longer alive."

Jeffy Yu then half-jokingly adds: Or maybe it's my ADHD (attention deficit disorder) (ah-oh, I'll update it when I suddenly realize "oh shit", which would be embarrassing if the token wasn't live yet).

Jeffy Yu then introduced the core of the article, "Legacoin", and called it his last artwork, codenamed LLJEFFY. He made it clear that "Legacoin is not an investment, nor a security, does not meet the definition of a security, does not involve advertising or speculation, is based solely on voluntary action, and defines it as the "opposite of a security". I would use the money I earned to buy tokens and then burn them. He also mentioned that when the Death Switch (DMS) is triggered, his relatives receive the relevant instructions and funds. This mechanism aims to permanently lock tokens on the blockchain, symbolizing an "eternal grave in cyberspace".

Jeffy Yu is blunt about his strong aversion to money. He wrote: "I hate money. Money has never made me happy, and it will never make you happy." He sees Legacoin as a "burning ritual," a figurative manifestation of his hatred of money. Jeffy Yu also defines this as a kind of "interactive performance art", a "living digital painting" painted by human souls from all over the world, forever unfinished and eternally painted.

At the same time, Jeffy Yu said, "Once I became a little bit rich and a little bit famous online, everything that made sense collapsed — friends, family, relationships, co-founders. Everything is no longer pure."

The appearance of this article made the incident more and more confusing. At the same time, the LLJEFFY token rose sharply, with a market cap of more than $30 million at one point.

Act IV: The Truth Revealed? Suspended animations caused an uproar

Crypto KOL Irene Zhao said, "I just asked an insider, and he said that jeff (Zerebro developer Jeffy Yu) faked his death. Alright, let's all disperse."

Subsequently, DeFi developer Daniele revealed that the founder of Zerebro made the entire community mourn for him by creating a fake obituary message. However, a recent leaked letter suggests that this is an elaborate "fake death exit" scheme. In the letter, the Zerebro founder acknowledged that this was its only way out of the ongoing harassment, blackmail, and threats.

In the letter, Jeffy Yu wrote, "From February to March, I was subjected to harassment and wire fraud by an ex-partner for a long time. Now, I'm being targeted and blackmailed by another person. I continue to be the target of online hate crimes, including frequent disclosure of my personal address and phone number, which seriously endangers my personal safety. These actions are also mixed with all kinds of hate speech about my race, gender identity, and personal achievements."

Jeffy Yu admitted, "If the withdrawal is publicly announced, the price of ZEREBRO and OPAUM tokens will plummet. trigger more serious consequences. When the price of our token plummeted by more than 90% in January of this year, I was already exposed to even more hostility. Choosing to retire will only lead to further doxing and even potential personal attacks, as investors will lose money due to project failures. Once I disappear from the platform and the community, my safety will be greatly guaranteed, and I will be free from extortion."

Jeffy Yu claims that his future career will be entirely focused on making music, doing so anonymously, in search of safety, tranquility and creative freedom.

Of course, Jeffy Yu has informed family and friends of the truth and expressed willingness to cooperate with law enforcement in any way necessary, while shutting down all social media accounts to cut ties with the community. Jeffy Yu added, "I didn't profit from this matter, but instead I paid high legal fees and related costs for this planned exit."

On the same day, Legacy is suspected of deleting the death announcement of Zerebro co-creator Jeffy Yu, and there is no information about the relevant link, which may further corroborate the claim of "fake death".

After the crypto community raised serious doubts about Jeffy Yu's integrity, LLJEFFY quickly retreated, falling to around $2.5 million at one point and now rebounding to $5.6 million.

In addition, according to Lookonchain monitoring, a wallet that may be related to Jeffy Yu sold 35.55 million ZEEBRO early on May 7 for 8,572 SOL (about $1.27 million), and then transferred 7,100 SOL (about $1.06 million) to the LLJEFFY developer wallet (address starting with G5sjgj).

Act V: Anger and Skepticism from the Crypto Community

Jeffy Yu's "fake death" incident not only hit the reputation of the Zerebro project hard, but also made the future of the LLJEFFY token uncertain.

The crypto community's reaction to the incident was mixed and intense. On the one hand, many people expressed anger at Jeffy Yu's actions, believing that he was evading responsibility by deceiving the community feelings, and may even take the opportunity to cash out for a profit. On the other hand, there is also a small group of community users who sympathize with Jeffy Yu's experience and call on the community to reflect on the harm of online violence.

At the same time, Jeffy Yu's actions have sparked discussions about the responsibilities of the project's founders. He may have protected himself and his family by "faking his death" to escape the pressure, but it has also hurt investors and community members who trust him. The anonymity and decentralization of cryptocurrencies give freedom to innovate, but they also provide the ground for irresponsible behavior.

The author has noted that Jeffy Yu previously announced that Zerebro's new album will be released at the end of May, and hinted at a possible collaboration with Kanye West. Kanye West is a controversial musician who has made headlines in recent years for his music and personal madness. Some community users can't help but wonder if this is a means to hype up new projects? @nanostrategies asked, "How do you explain Jeffy Yu's Kanye-like behavior?" The most credible reason is to get attention before Jeffy promotes his next music project."

Team infighting: The two co-founders of Zerebro went from being side-by-side to strangers

Zerebro was co-founded by Jeffy Yu and Tint. Tint previously noted that Blorm is the parent company of Zerebro, Blormmy (Solana AiFi agency), and opaium (AI music label).

As mentioned earlier, Jeffy Yu said in a suspiciously timed article, "Once I became a little rich and a little famous online, everything that made sense collapsed — friends, family, relationships, co-founders." The "co-founder" here may refer to Tint, implying that the relationship between the two has already been strained.

According to the author's observation, Tint and Jeffy Yu have parted ways before. After Jeffy Yu's "suspended animation" incident, Blorm publicly clarified that Tint and Jeffy Yu would focus on their respective projects. Jeffy will no longer be involved in the Blorm or Blormmy projects; Tint is also no longer involved in Zerebro-related projects or any other projects led by Jeffy or its affiliates, and continues to focus independently on the continued development of the Blorm and Blormmy ecosystems.

brief summary

Jeffy Yu's "fake death" incident is like a prism, reflecting the complex ecology of the crypto community. For him personally, this may be the beginning of a way out of his predicament and freedom again; But it's a big wake-up call for the crypto community as a whole. It reminds people that in the pursuit of innovation and wealth, it is important to face up to the complexity of human nature, the importance of responsibility, and the urgency of building healthy community ecosystems. The aftermath of this turmoil will continue to reverberate in the crypto world.

Despite the high authenticity of the letters exposed by Daniele, in the chaotic fog of the crypto world, the truth may always remain a little suspenseful.