Crypto Sleuth Teases Major Insider Trading Probe

- The full investigation is scheduled to be released on February 26th and targets what ZachXBT describes as "one of the most profitable businesses in crypto." The report alleges that multiple employees systematically used internal data for insider trading over a long period. - Prediction markets, such as those on Polymarket, have seen heavy trading on the potential target of the exposé. As of February 24, 2026, the Solana-based decentralized exchange protocol Meteora was the leading subject of speculation. Other names circulating include Pump.fun and World Liberty Financial. - ZachXBT is a pseudonymous on-chain investigator known for exposing fraud and misconduct in the crypto space. His previous work has contributed to high-profile arrests and the recovery of over $350 million for victims of scams and hacks. - The investigation reportedly began after a trader in a private Telegram group inadvertently exposed a series of wallet addresses during a "band-for-band" exchange, where high-net-worth individuals share screen-shots of their live wallet balances. - This case follows previous enforcement actions against insider trading in the crypto industry. In a landmark 2022 case, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC charged a former Coinbase product manager for tipping off his brother and a friend about upcoming token listings, resulting in over $1.1 million in illicit profits and a two-year prison sentence for the manager. - On-chain analysis, the method used by ZachXBT, involves tracing transactions recorded on public blockchains to identify patterns of behavior. This allows investigators to follow the flow of funds between wallets, often exposing connections that are not immediately obvious.