Author: StarPlatinum
Compiled by Tim, PANews
He bought crypto assets in 2018 and was scammed, losing more than $15,000.
So he started tracking down block explorers to find out what was going on.
Today he’s become the most formidable on-chain detective in the crypto space.
So, who exactly is ZachXBT?
Before becoming a detective, ZachXBT was just an ordinary retail investor: superstitious about project owners and mindlessly rushing into NFTs.
Then, the project owner ran away and encountered another hacking incident.
In 2018, he lost more than $15,000 worth of Ethereum.
Afterwards, he opened Etherscan and began digging deeper into the chain for clues.
He studied blockchain knowledge on his own. He traced wallets through mixers, infiltrated open-source intelligence circles to gather clues, and mapped the flow of fraudulent funds on paper. He had never studied finance and knew nothing about technology.
Relying only on public tools and time, he finally achieved some results in May 2021.
After the first case exposed Impact Theory's illegal financing, he then turned his attention to Rogue Society:
15,777 NFTs were minted in an instant, the development team disappeared, and ZachXBT tracked the funds.
Then they locked the target wallet and finally published irrefutable evidence on Discord, forcing the founder to end his hiding journey.
And this is just the beginning.
He uncovered the $70 million Pixelmon scam:
1) Exposing the team’s misappropriation of startup funds to purchase Bored Ape
2) Then, a phishing ring that stole $2.5 million worth of BAYC NFTs was taken down.
3) ZachXBT tracked the relevant wallet addresses and successfully identified the suspect.
4) French police arrested five people involved in the case
5) The police publicly thanked him for helping solve the case
But ZachXBT’s biggest case will happen in 2022.
A ten-part investigative series on "Big Brother," who forensically linked 21 crypto wallets to $37 million in missing funds.
Ma Ji took him to court for defamation.
The crypto community raised $1 million to aid his defense.
ZachXBT is not giving an inch.
In the end, Maji took the initiative to withdraw the lawsuit.
After that, he started to investigate more deeply.
The North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group (the mastermind behind the Ronin and Harmony cross-chain bridge vulnerabilities) was traced back to its source.
Mapped the path of $200 million flowing through Tornado, ChipMixer, and several Asian exchanges.
He has submitted the relevant fund flow chart to law enforcement authorities and assisted in freezing the relevant funds.
ZachXBT doesn't work for anyone, but institutions around the world are closely watching his movements.
The U.S. Secret Service cited his analysis report, and the French Internet police contacted him so quickly that even the police could not catch up.
Arkham Corporation paid him to find the owner of the wallet and later recovered more than $435 million in stolen money.
All actions without showing face.
He also exposed many Internet celebrities: BitBoy, Logan Paul, Lark Davis, Kyle Chasse.
He didn't care about the other party's lawyers and fans, and continued to track down phishing gangs, airdrop cashers, KOLs who cut leeks, and market manipulators.
More than 200 investigation reports were published in four years.
In 2025, Paradigm officially announced the appointment of Zach to join the team as a security incident response consultant.
Founder Matt Huang was particularly praised for recovering over $350 million in stolen assets
PS: Four years have passed, and he still uses the cartoon platypus avatar, keeping his original intention.
ZachXBT has become a benchmark in the industry, and his actions have prompted exchanges to change their policies and bring scammers to justice.
It also turns on-chain analysis into a blade of justice.
He started with a scam investigation, but built up the most trusted reputation in the Web3 world.
The crypto detective is referring to him.
