On-chain investigator ZachXBT receives meme token ZACHXBT, extracts liquidity from its main trading pool

Crypto investigator ZachXBT became a part of meme token trading history after receiving 500M ZACHXBT tokens in his public wallet. The subsequent trading raised speculations about a possible rug pull. 

On-chain investigator ZachXBT received a significant token airdrop, possibly tied to fundraising efforts to reward his pro bono work tracking down on-chain scams. Despite receiving community support, the attempt to raise funds also caused controversy due to the volatility of the ZACHXBT token. 

The token, branded as ZACHXBT, was created by an anonymous developer and airdropped to ZachXBT’s widely known public wallet. The researcher then immediately swapped the token and removed the available liquidity of over $3.7M in SOL.

The wallet still holds 10.13M of the token, valued above $95K. After receiving a series of token airdrops, ZachXBT added them to the Raydium trading pool. Reportedly, the investigator withdrew 16,348 SOL from the pool, along with 91.91M ZACHXBT. 

The SOL in question was then sent to an intermediary address and then sent again to a wallet tagged ‘TRUMP Whale’ with a collection of other leading meme tokens. 

The token airdrop happened just as the crypto community organized a fundraiser to reward the activity of ZachXBT. 

We raised $50,000 for @zachxbt in 1 hour.

Notable Donations:@SpiderCrypto0x – $25,000@frankdegods – $10,000@notthreadguy – $2,500@MINHxDYNASTY – $1,500

& way more for the community

Thank you ♥️

It’s 4am, and I’m exhausted.

I may wake up a little late, let’s double this! https://t.co/gblD3yzINm pic.twitter.com/X77Rr6EtkW

— Moose (@JoeyMooose) January 21, 2025

ZACHXBT started trading around 6:46 GMT on January 21, just as accounts on X were also organizing a fundraiser in ETH, BTC, and stablecoins. Additionally, the address later received 900K CRIME tokens, currently in price discovery and valued at $27K. Other smaller airdrops also reached the well-known Solana address.

In the end, ZachXBT retained over $95K in ZACHXBT tokens, with other alternative donations. The token’s price is extremely volatile, and for now, the remaining holdings are held passively. ZachXBT retained around 800 SOL staked with JitoSOL for passive income. 

The known address of ZachXBT also received other newly created tokens with lower values in addition to SOL. The SOL funds, valued at over $3.7M, have moved to other wallets. 

ZACHXBT token goes through boom and bust

The effect of ZachXBT’s trading on the token led to a boom and bust price movement. ZACHXBT started with the lowest possible sub-penny valuation, erasing 15 zeroes to reach a peak at $0.07. The token then crashed to $0.009, which is not unusual for new and relatively illiquid assets. 

Previously, one of the high-profile cases of meme token fundraising was the creation of MIRA on behalf of Siqi Chen. 

Meme token launches have achieved success in raising funds quickly, but token devs have been accused of essentially running a rug pull. The end goal of fundraising tokens is to be sold, leading to losses for most buyers. 

The actions of ZachXBT caused diverging reactions. On the one hand, the anonymous developer did not ask ZachXBT for permission or reveal any plans to donate tokens. The decision to liquidate all airdropped tokens recall those of Vitalik Buterin, who is in the habit of selling all received meme tokens for ETH and then donating the proceeds. 

Others believed ZachXBT performed a rug pull, draining the liquidity from the new meme token. ZachXBT provided one-sided liquidity, then withdrew both the remaining tokens and WSOL, decreasing the available liquidity in the pool. The effect was the same as selling, and affected other traders in the pool.

In this case, the new token may also be an attempt to donate to ZachXBT outside the initial fundraiser. The meme market once again proved even more efficient in raising value. 

Until now, ZachXBT has provided his investigations for free, not monetizing or tokenizing the insights. For most of the crypto community, the funds received could allow him to focus on truly malicious investigations that have resulted in deeper losses. 

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