Zerebro founder Jeffy Yu was found alive and living at his parents’ house in San Francisco, confirming growing suspicions that the death was staged.
Yu, whose livestreamed “suicide” set off a viral cascade of eulogies, a commemorative memecoin launch, and even a digital obituary, was confronted by reporters from the San Francisco Standard on May 7 outside his family home.
The report noted that Yu was visibly startled when he saw the reporters and said he would be forced to move within the week. The elaborate hoax unraveled rapidly following Sunday’s livestream on Pump.fun, where Yu seemingly ended his life on camera.
Not long after, a glowing obituary appeared online praising Yu as a “visionary technologist” and promoting his contributions to AI crypto culture. The memorial page was taken down shortly after being published, which caused further speculation about it being staged.
Suspicious wallet activity
Adding to the mystique, Yu’s social media accounts began posting what were described as pre-scheduled farewell messages referencing a “deadman’s switch,” a failsafe mechanism triggering communications upon death.
One post declared the release of a coin called $LLJEFFY, which was described as his “final art piece” and “an eternal grave in cyberspace.” Despite the tragic story, on-chain analysis showed unusual activity.
Bubblemaps, a blockchain analytics firm, tracked the movement of over $1.4 million in crypto tied to wallets associated with Yu after his alleged death. The activity prompted many in the community to speculate that the entire thing was staged, culminating in accusations of a “pseudocide” to cash out.
Daniele Sestagalli, founder of Wonderland, shared a purported private message from Yu in which he described his actions as an escape from harassment and threats. Yu has not publicly confirmed or denied the statement.
Murky biography
According to The Standard, Yu’s biography and claimed history are murky. He claimed affiliations with Stanford, Northeastern, and Arizona State and described himself as a software engineer based in Santa Cruz.
The Legacy.com obituary also included these details and called him a coding prodigy. However, reporters were unable to verify these claims.
When approached by reporters this week, Yu declined to comment on the hoax or whether he profited financially. He was reportedly agitated over being found and accused the media of endangering his safety.
Yu said:
“I’ve been harassed. If you can find me, other people can find me.”
He also asked the reporters to preserve his privacy for safety reasons.
According to the report, no law enforcement agencies have publicly commented on the matter, and it remains unclear whether an investigation is underway.