Crypto Detective Strikes Again: Who Did He Catch This Time?
Renowned on-chain investigator ZachXBT released his latest investigation report on Thursday, officially naming the cryptocurrency exchange Axiom, accusing its employees of abusing internal tools to secretly track user wallets, and even turning these confidential data into trading advantages to profit from buying and selling cryptocurrencies. Earlier, ZachXBT had hinted at exposing an insider trading case, sparking speculation within the crypto community for days, and now the truth has finally come to light.
Axiom was founded in 2024 by pseudonymous founders “Mist” and “Cal,” and successfully joined the Y Combinator top-tier accelerator in Winter 2025. To date, its revenue has exceeded $390 million.
ZachXBT stated that he was commissioned by multiple whistleblowers to investigate whether Axiom’s internal tools were being misused, but he did not disclose the identity of the commissioning parties.
In the report, ZachXBT accused Broox Bauer, a senior business development manager at Axiom based in New York, of using internal customer service system permissions to access private wallet data of Axiom users, including wallet addresses, full transaction records, and other sensitive information. According to audio recordings cited in the investigation, Broox Bauer claimed he could track any Axiom user through referral codes, wallet addresses, or user IDs. He also described how he “gradually” searched these wallets and mentioned he would “slowly check, so it doesn’t look too suspicious.”
Although on-chain transactions are inherently transparent and anyone can verify fund flows, most market participants can only see “wallet addresses” and cannot identify who is behind them. However, once internal information is used to match specific addresses with real user identities and account data, it effectively opens the door to “de-anonymization.”
Tracking well-known traders, crypto KOLs, or whales’ trading activities and leveraging “information asymmetry” for profit or risk mitigation constitutes insider trading, such as:
Compiling “Crypto KOL Wallet Lists” and scheming to profit using internal tools
ZachXBT further revealed that Broox Bauer allegedly leaked screenshots of Axiom’s internal dashboard, exposing specific traders’ wallet addresses, and even helped compile a “private wallet list of crypto KOLs.” ZachXBT emphasized that multiple victims whose wallet data was leaked confirmed the accuracy of these leaks.
He also mentioned that Broox Bauer conspired with accomplices on how to use “privileged access” to profit from trading, even planning a scheme to help another Axiom team member make $200,000 by abusing internal tools.
ZachXBT stated he has identified Broox Bauer’s main wallets and related addresses; however, he admitted that to fully confirm the specific insider trading behind these wallets, internal logs from Axiom would need to be reviewed.
Axiom responds: Access to related tools has been revoked
In response, Axiom provided a statement to ZachXBT, acknowledging awareness of the allegations and stating that measures have been taken. The company said:
“We are shocked and disappointed that someone on our team has abused internal customer service tools to spy on user wallets. We have revoked access to these tools and will continue investigating to hold the violator accountable.”
Axiom emphasized, “This does not represent the actions of our entire team. We always prioritize our users. We will update further developments on our official X account.”
ZachXBT pointed out that before the investigation report was published, he had contacted Axiom and described the company’s internal permission controls as “relatively lax,” with employees able to easily view numerous wallets and transaction data in the backend. He also mentioned that since the involved employee is based in the U.S., the case may fall under U.S. jurisdiction.
Side story: Market prediction triggers betting frenzy, mysterious trader profits $39,000 with precise arbitrage
Earlier this week, when ZachXBT announced he would expose an insider trading case, it sparked a speculative frenzy in prediction markets. On Polymarket, a contract titled “Which crypto company will ZachXBT expose for insider trading?” had a total trading volume of $27.6 million, with traders wildly betting on Axiom, Meteora, Pump.fun, and other well-known platforms.
Meanwhile, on-chain analysts detected unusual trading patterns. According to Lookonchain, an anonymous trader placed a bet of over $50,000 on Axiom being named, with relatively low odds, then closed the position within a day, easily earning $39,000 in profit.
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