{"id":1222,"date":"2026-05-31T13:37:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2026-05-31T13:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:37:46","slug":"ai-powered-crypto-cannabis-vape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1222","title":{"rendered":"I went looking for the AI weed vape that gives you Bitcoin for smoking"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The crypto weed vape found me on 4\/20, the high holiday of cannabis enthusiasts everywhere. It arrived over Slack with the thumbnail of a man exhaling a plume of vapor, the words \u201cevery hit delivers Bitcoin\u201d emblazoned across it. It claimed to be advertising a device called Gudtrip, and I thought everything about it sounded fake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So I went looking for it. What I eventually found, after weeks of searching, dozens of emails, and a reporting effort that spanned continents, was somehow even dumber than I\u2019d imagined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Gudtrip weed vape\u2019s message seems clear in this screenshot of their website.<\/figcaption>Image: Gudtrip<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My first port of call was Gudtrip\u2019s website<\/a>, which only made the vape seem more like a prank. The company\u2019s description of the product was tech buzzword bingo \u2014 this wasn\u2019t just a vape that delivered Bitcoin, it was \u201cthe first agentic cannabis device\u201d combining \u201cpremium cannabis, blockchain rewards, and AI-powered asset tools in one product.\u201d This alleged device wasn\u2019t just running on crypto hype: now AI was in the mix, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But I did find one sign that the product was real. The website said that its vapes were available in California, with New York also listed as \u201ccoming soon.\u201d And there was a name for the brand behind it: Puffpaw<\/a>, a company that presents itself as the maker of the \u201cworld\u2019s first gamified smart vape\u201d for nicotine. Somehow, it\u2019s supposed to incentivize quitting nicotine through a mechanism that, like Gudtrip, I did not understand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I went to Gudtrip\u2019s social accounts to scour for more. The product appeared to have quietly launched<\/a> in March. Otherwise, most posts reiterated that by using Gudtrip, you\u2019d get some Bitcoin. Gudtrip\u2019s pinned post on X as of this writing reads,<\/a> \u201cSmoke weed and earn @Bitcoin.\u201d Another asks<\/a>: \u201cnew yorkers are you ready to smoke a joint and earn bitcoin?\u201d On Threads, Gudtrip posted about<\/a> \u201cbuilding wealth one puff at a time\u201d and explained<\/a> that users can \u201c\u2061Earn Bitcoin from every single puff.\u201d A pulsating TikTok video<\/a> described the vape as \u201cthe high that pays you back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was enough to convince me the product might be real. This was, somehow, shaping up to be a real vape. But I did not understand in the slightest how it worked. Does the vape mine Bitcoin? I emailed Gudtrip to find out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gudtrip didn\u2019t get back to me right away, so I started looking for more. On LinkedIn, I found one \u201cReffo T.,<\/a> listed as CEO of Gudtrip, \u201ca premium cannabis brand turning consumption into an onchain earning experience.\u201d He\u2019d written a blog post coaxing dispensaries<\/a> to stock these vapes. \u201cThe product sells itself,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Bitcoin just makes sure customers remember where they got it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Weed is legal in California, but products are regulated. So I asked California\u2019s Department of Cannabis Control, which licenses and regulates commercial cannabis activity in the state, whether it permits products that reward consumption. Jordan Traverso, the department\u2019s deputy director of public affairs, said the agency hadn\u2019t heard of Gudtrip\u2019s AI crypto vape. \u201cWe were not previously familiar with the Gudtrip product but have reached out to the manufacturer to learn more about its features,\u201d he wrote. That made two of us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At this point, I\u2019d reached the limit of what I could do from London. So I asked my US colleagues for help. Gudtrip claimed to be available in California in exactly two stores. It just so happened that a colleague was in the area to swing by the dispensary to see once and for all: Does this vape actually exist?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Upon walking in the door of the NUG Cannabis Dispensary<\/a> in Oakland, we found the answer: A massive Gudtrip poster immediately promised customers \u201congoing Crypto Rewards over time.\u201d It read, plainly, \u201cGet High. Get Bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Gudtrip poster in NUG Cannabis Dispensary in Oakland, California.<\/figcaption>Image: The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Obviously, we bought it. The AI weed vape cost $67 after tax.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That was also when Gudtrip replied \u2014 and somehow, things became even more hazy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The whole \u201cpaying people to smoke weed\u201d thing sounded pretty catchy, but it didn\u2019t sound entirely legal. (It doesn\u2019t sound particularly healthy, either. Researchers speaking to crypto outlet DL News<\/em><\/a> said encouraging daily use is potentially dangerous and habit-forming.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It turns out Gudtrip agreed. When I asked Gudtrip what the vape actually does, how the rewards work, and how the company responds to criticism that it is encouraging people to consume cannabis for crypto, Gudtrip\u2019s CTO, Rishi Kommuri, emailed back a few numbered paragraphs. The line that stood out to me most: \u201cit is actually illegal to offer financial incentives per consumption type and so on in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Gudtrip<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A preview screen of the Gudtrip app in TestFlight.<\/figcaption>Image: The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Despite what Gudtrip\u2019s website, X account, Threads account, TikTok account, and a giant banner in NUG Cannabis Dispensary promised, Kommuri was now claiming that the vape did not <\/em>give you Bitcoin for vaping.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe Bitcoin reward is decoupled from consumption,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is paid upfront on activation, to every customer, and does not scale with puff duration, session count, daily use, or streaks. A customer who never uses the device after activation receives the same reward 2$-60$ BTC equivalent reward as one who uses it regularly. This is a standard consumer loyalty mechanic \u2014 Bitcoin in place of points \u2014 and Bitcoin is a commodity under SEC and CFTC classification. We\u2019re confident the structure complies with the cannabis regulations of every market we operate in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So, you don\u2019t actually \u201cEarn Bitcoin from every single puff\u201d? A video on the company\u2019s website<\/a> states \u201cevery inhale syncs with your phone and earns bitcoin and gudtrip points in real time\u201d \u2014 but it does not actually do that? Because that would be illegal?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gudtrip\u2019s app only made the situation more confusing. When a colleague went to download it via the QR-coded on the poster at NUG Oakland dispensary (it was offered via TestFlight, rather than Apple\u2019s App Store), the download page promised something else. The preview screenshot clearly stated that the app rewards puffs on the vape \u2014 not with crypto, but with Gudtrip Points. What were Gudtrip Points? What could they be redeemed for? We reached out to Gudtrip again to clarify.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A second email from Kommuri reiterated, with some urgency: \u201cThe main point we want to make sure was clear is that Gudtrip\u2019s Bitcoin reward is tied to activation, not consumption.\u201d And again, you do not get rewarded for puffs! \u201cGudtrip Points are a separate, non-monetary loyalty system tracked in-app. They are not blockchain rewards and are not redeemable for cash, cryptocurrency, or cannabis products.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The contradictions were piling up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kommuri had an explanation for this: \u201cThe per-puff points displayed in that screenshot was a legacy feature carried from our other smart hardware products \u2026 this is no longer a feature we currently provide.\u201d And those \u201congoing crypto rewards over time\u201d? Well, that \u201crefers to our future portfolio management feature in the app.\u201d Yes, the app is also meant to offer investment planning for your crypto portfolio.
So, the per-puff points system is a defunct legacy feature, and the crypto portfolio-managing agentic AI doesn\u2019t actually exist yet. What does this actually do again, besides the obvious?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The only way to find out what the vape actually did was to finally use it. However, our ethics policy forbids us from individually owning cryptocurrency, so we registered a throwaway account for the Bitcoin. And our legal team discourages us from writing about questionably legal drug usage, so we also ordered an auto fluid extractor pump to simulate puffing the vape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Upon linking the vape to Gudtrip\u2019s app, we were rewarded with $2 worth of Bitcoin. So far, so good. But would there be more as we vaped?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We used an auto fluid extractor to simulate a really long toke of the Gudtrip weed vape. The app told us, \u201cFor your health, we recommend a total daily suction time of 20 seconds.\u201d<\/figcaption>Image: The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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As another colleague pumped the vape into the extractor, the arced progress bar within the app filled up. Points were tabulated. He\u2019d pumped beyond the 20 seconds of daily toking that was \u201crecommended\u201d for our \u201chealth,\u201d but no Bitcoin was dispersed beyond the initial amount. There are separate, dedicated app pages to keep track of your current prize value and your toke-accumulation history, but to get another $2\u2013$60 in Bitcoin, you would need to purchase a new, disposable $67 vape. That\u2019s how they get you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meanwhile, as we emailed back and forth with Kommuri, several social media posts appeared to vanish from Gudtrip\u2019s accounts, though it\u2019s not clear what posts may have been removed or why. Indexed posts on Google \u2014 which, when clicked, say the posts aren\u2019t available \u2014 suggest one was a TikTok video that used the wording \u201cInvest while you puff,\u201d while another was for an Instagram post with the phrase \u201cEvery hit earns crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A look at the Wayback Machine reveals that Gudtrip also changed its website to weaken the connection between smoking and earning crypto. A snapshot from mid-April shows an image of a phone with the Gudtrip app open, with \u201cevery hit earns crypto\u201d prominently displayed beneath the company logo. Today, the phone with the app is still there, but the space underneath the logo is blank. It sure seems that the company is trying to fade out the original idea \u2014 toke to get Bitcoin, or sorry, toke and <\/em>get Bitcoin?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So after all of that, my question was answered: The vape was real. But you will not, in fact, get Bitcoin with every hit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Additional reporting by Sean Hollister<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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