The supposedly dead Jeff Yu is complaining about being doxxed while staying at his parents' home.

Author: George Kelly

Compiled by: Shenchao TechFlow

Image description: Jeffy Yu, provided by The Standard

Jeffy Yu seemingly ended his life during a live video on Sunday, just before his 23rd birthday.

An obituary filled with accolades immediately appeared, describing this ambitious cryptocurrency upstart as "a visionary artist, a technical expert, and a cultural force," and that "he has been a technical genius since childhood." Meanwhile, a memecoin named Yu also began its sale.

However, in the following days, internet detectives questioned the authenticity of the video. The obituary then disappeared.

No matter what kind of deception game was being played behind the scenes, it all came to a sudden halt the moment Yu was found by The Standard (San Francisco Standard) on Wednesday. At that time, he was nestled in his parents' home in the Crocker-Amazon district.

Standing outside this two-story house, the so-called gifted tech developer appeared both anxious and shocked, as he was pinpointed by some conventional online searches.

"I was doxxed, I was harassed. If you can find me, others will find me," he said. "Now I have to get my parents out of here within this week."

Yu is the developer of Zerebro, a low-profile cryptocurrency token with a market cap of $44 million. (In contrast, Bitcoin has a market cap of $2 trillion.) Zerebro began to gain attention after Yu "seemingly" committed suicide during a live broadcast on the cryptocurrency platform pump.fun.

Although the complete video is no longer available, some clips are still circulating. His obituary referred to him as a "martyr of imagination and creativity," but it has also disappeared from the Legacy.com website.

The obituary stated: "His life was short, yet filled with passion, talent, and dedication to creation; he hoped these would inspire others forever."

It remains unclear whether other life details about Jeffy Yu are credible. The online memorial mentions that he studied computer science at Stanford University and also attended Northeastern University and Arizona State University. Reports indicate that he worked full-time as a software engineer in Santa Cruz, and his LinkedIn profile shows the same information.

Yu, dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, wearing thin-framed glasses, refused to discuss the false reports about his faked death and the potential financial gains he might have received from it.

He just said, "You can see the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in my eyes, right?" Then he asked the reporter to leave.

Despite the obituary's extravagant proclamation of his so-called success, the more eye-catching "self-homage" is the meme coin he launched on Sunday.

The cryptocurrency promoted on his social media account in the form of an "automatic message" is called $LLJEFFY. The message states: "If you are reading this message, it is because my 72-hour deadman’s switch has been triggered, so I am no longer here, at least not physically." He describes this new coin as "my final artwork" and "an eternal grave in cyberspace."

As the events unfolded, suspicions quickly emerged, including claims from industry insiders such as Daniele Sestagalli, the CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Wonderland, that Yu faked his own death. Sestagalli also released a private letter allegedly written by Yu, in which it mentioned that "suicide is the only viable way for me to escape the ongoing harassment, extortion, and threats," and stated that he must "completely and permanently disconnect." However, Sestagalli was unavailable for an interview.

According to on-chain analysis data shared by the crypto analytics platform Bubblemaps on social media, accounts associated with Yu transferred up to $1.4 million in cryptocurrency after his "death." Many accounts accuse Yu of orchestrating a meticulously planned "pseudocide exit strategy" to cash out his held assets.

Before his "fake death," Yu issued a declaration introducing a concept called "legacoins." This type of token is described as an "evolved form of digital assets (commonly referred to as meme coins)," serving a function similar to that of a "vault or storage device for indefinitely securing and preserving value."

New information about Yu continues to emerge. Earlier on Thursday, an X (formerly Twitter) account named @eiuge74698713 announced that it would hold "a unique blockchain funeral event" for Yu.

The account states: "He is a true believer and builder of blockchain, who upheld his life beliefs even in death. He deserves to be commemorated in a unique blockchain way."

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call or text "988" to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24/7, or chat online for help.