ZachXBT Abandons $88M Coldcard Investigation Amid Industry Payment Shortfalls

ZachXBT, a well-known cryptocurrency investigator, has announced that he will not be involved in tracing or investigating the massive $88 million Coldcard hardware wallet exploit. In a surprising move, ZachXBT explained his decision by sharing two examples of instances where he was promised payment for his work but ultimately received nothing.

The first case involves a user named Roshii, who was scammed out of $600,000 in June 2026 and asked ZachXBT to help trace the funds. After spending over five hours on the task, ZachXBT successfully froze $96,000, but the victim refused to file a police report in Denmark and has since disappeared without paying ZachXBT for his work.

The second case involves a project that promised ZachXBT a $25,000 bounty for an in-depth review of its team members' on-chain history after it was discovered they had unknowingly hired North Korean IT workers. However, nine months have passed and the project still hasn't paid ZachXBT, citing 'cash flow problems.'

ZachXBT's decision to sit out the Coldcard investigation is seen as a warning shot to an industry that relies heavily on unpaid investigative labor from individuals like him.