Self-styled “vape to quit smoking and earn” device Puffpaw has announced it has secured $6M in funding for ongoing development – although noted crypto sleuth ZachXBT is unimpressed.
“By building at the crossroads of culture and crypto and health, Puffpaw is making DePIN accessible and practical,” said Shaishav Todi, General Part at Lemniscap Ventures, who led the funding round. “[Puffpaw] has huge potential for mass adoption, particularly given increasing consumer demand for health conscious vaping solutions.”
Puffpaw is built on the soon-to-launch Berachain – home of projects such as MMORPG Valhalla – and purports to help smokers on their journey to quitting by rewarding users with tokens for gradually reducing their nicotine intake, though some in the community are unconvinced by their approach.
What is Puffpaw?
Puffpaw create physical vaping devices that, they say, help users to reduce their nicotine intake and quit smoking.
Each device – which uses specially-produced vape cartridges – can only be puffed on a set number of times per day. This rewards users with tokens – with more tokens available for those that use lower-nicotine cartridges – which can then be used to purchase more cartridges.
Reffo Tse, who leads Puffpaw, notes that they look at similar approach to move-to-earn app STEPN, and by using the device for one month, users should earn enough tokens to cover 30% of the initial cost of the device.
Despite this, he remained unclear when questioned about users gaming the system, for example by using Puffpaw on top of their current vaping habits.
Why is ZachXBT unimpressed?
Alongside Puffpaw’s announcement of their $6M raise on X, they added additional context in the replies, using phrases such as “health-conscious vaping”, and announcing a “nicotine free organic tea extract” model – the Puffpaw Smart Vape – that supposedly is “gamifying the quitting process”.
A further reply also stated that; “Even if you are not a smoker, you can help your friends quit by leasing your vape to friends looking to quit smoking and support them through every step of their quitting journey” – with the message that non-smokers should purchase the device leading to increasing cynicism.
In response, ZachXBT didn’t mince his words – quickly gaining more likes than the announcement itself.
“When ZachXBT was younger, my family always said dont [sic] smoke cigarettes, look what happened to grandpa, he got cancer
“but I deeply regret not smoking bc this Vape2Earn $6M raise gave me cancer anyways.”
He was not the only one to voice his displeasure over the morality and nature of Puffpaw. @stack2deep stated “This market deserves to go to Zero”, @EastBlkOligark remarked “So I make money if I vape? Isn’t this the opposite of teaching people to quit”, whilst @RealJonahBlake simply said “This is moronic”.
Other than a copypasta reply to ZachXBT (which itself was ratio’d), Puffpaw have largely ignored the backlash, forging ahead with development. It remains to be seen what level of success Puffpaw can obtain, but the raise is an indication that there’s more to come.
COO & founder of NFT Insider. Bullish on web3. Competitive soul.