He bought cryptocurrency assets in 2018 and was then scammed, losing over $15,000.
So he began to investigate the blockchain browser to find out what had happened.
Today, he has become one of the most respected on-chain detectives in the crypto field.
So who exactly is ZachXBT?
Before becoming a detective, ZachXBT was just an ordinary retail investor: superstitious of project teams, mindlessly buying NFTs.
Then, the project team ran away and encountered a hacking incident.
In 2018, he lost over $15,000 in Ethereum.
After that, he opened Etherscan and began deep diving into on-chain clues.
He taught himself various blockchain knowledge. By tracing the wallets through mixers, he infiltrated open-source intelligence circles to gather clues and mapped out the flow of scam funds on paper. He had never learned about finance and knew nothing about technology.
With only public tools and time, by May 2021, he finally made some progress.
After the first case revealed Impact Theory's illegal financing, he set his sights on Rogue Society:
15,777 NFTs were minted in an instant, the development team vanished, and ZachXBT tracked the funds.
Then he targeted the wallet and finally published concrete evidence on Discord, forcing the founder to end his hiding.
And this is just the beginning.
He uncovered the Pixelmon scam valued at $70 million:
1) Exposed the team for misappropriating startup funds to purchase Bored Apes.
2) Then dismantled a phishing gang that stole $2.5 million in BAYC NFTs.
3) ZachXBT tracked related wallet addresses and successfully identified the suspects.
4) French police arrested 5 people involved in the case.
5) Police publicly thanked him for assisting in solving the case.
But the biggest case for ZachXBT occurred in 2022.
A ten-part investigative report series on 'Brother Maj', linking 21 crypto wallets to $37 million in missing funds.
Maj sued him for defamation.
The crypto community raised $1 million to help him defend himself.
ZachXBT was relentless.
Ultimately, the informant voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit.
Since then, he has conducted more in-depth investigations.
Tracked the North Korean hacking organization Lazarus Group (the mastermind behind the Ronin and Harmony cross-chain bridge vulnerabilities).
Mapped the flow of $200 million through Tornado, ChipMixer, and various exchanges in Asia.
He has submitted related fund flow charts to law enforcement and assisted in freezing the related funds.
ZachXBT does not work for anyone, yet he attracts the attention of agencies from various countries.
The U.S. Secret Service cited his analysis report; the speed at which the French cyber police contacted him was even faster than the police could keep up.
Arkham paid him to find the wallet owner, subsequently recovering over $435 million in stolen funds.
All actions were carried out without revealing his identity.
He also exposed many internet celebrities: BitBoy, Logan Paul, Lark Davis, Kyle Chasse.
He paid no attention to the other party's lawyers and fans, continuously tracking phishing gangs, airdrop cashers, KOLs who cut and harvested, and market manipulators.
Over four years, he has released more than 200 investigative reports.
In 2025, Paradigm officially announced the appointment of Zach as a security incident response advisor.
Founder Matt Huang praised him for recovering over $350 million in stolen assets.
PS: Four years later, he still uses a cartoon platypus avatar, maintaining his original intent.
ZachXBT has become an industry benchmark, and his actions have prompted exchanges to revise policies to bring fraudsters to justice.
Making on-chain analysis a sword of justice.
He started with a scam investigation but built the most trusted reputation in the Web3 world.
The crypto detective refers to him.
