🔎 ZachXBT's investigation got front run?

PLUS: ZachXBT names Axiom in an insider probe, but new wallets bet $59K into $109K hours before the post, Polymarket volume explodes to $39M, Solana slips, and AI layoffs and macro risks deepen.

Author

Cryptopolitan News
February 27, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

ZachXBT reveals Axiom but insiders might have front-run the reveal

Crypto didn’t merely respond to the investigation. Some wallets seem to have reacted ahead of it.

Three days after teasing the report, on-chain sleuth ZachXBT eventually identified Axiom Exchange as a target in an insider trading investigation. The claim: a senior business development staffer abused company tools to view user wallet information and shared it with others privately.

But around three hours before the report was published, several newly created wallets placed aggressive bets on Polymarket that Axiom would be the target.

They were right.

$59K in. $109K out. In three hours.

A pair of new wallets reportedly bet a total of $59,800 on the Axiom outcome.

Those bets turned into about $109,000 in profit within hours and that wasn’t isolated.

According to data shared by Lookonchain and on-chain trackers, as many as 12 wallets seem to have front-runned early. Profits combined are estimated at more than $1 million.

Calling the wallets eight of the top 10 market earners.

Most had limited prior activity. Some were newly created.

The Polymarket frenzy

Volume exploded for the ZachXBT prediction market.

What began as a teaser became one of the most sought-after markets on Polymarket, with over $39 million in total volume. At one point, Axiom’s odds leapt from about 15 percent to nearly 35 percent in a short period of time.

Ultimately, more than 3,600 wallets wagered on Axiom. 56% ended in profit.

But the biggest gains were very lumpy.

According to a report, one address alone made over $400,000. Others had cashed six figures in profits before they settled.

ZachXBT himself later admitted he might have inadvertently leaked information from interviews conducted as part of the investigation.

There is no confirmed evidence linking him to any betting wallet.

What Axiom is accused of

The report focuses on Broox Bauer, a senior employee at Axiom Exchange.

ZachXBT claims to have linked the findings to Bauer using internal dashboards and querying private wallet data associated with users such as referral codes and IDs. Audio clips posted in the thread allegedly contain assertions that he could trace “any Axiom user.”

Axiom said on X that it was “shocked and disappointed,” by the revocation of access, and said an internal investigation had been initiated.

According to reports, the exchange earned over $390 million in revenue post its batch on Y Combinator Winter 2025.

Without the ability to cross-check internal logs, ZachXBT warned that high-confidence conclusions can't be drawn when it comes to insider trading based solely on where coins flow on-chain.

Market reaction

Following the reveal, Solana dropped over 4%.

The wider crypto market was marginally easier, although total market cap dipped around 2.5% at $2.32 trillion. The larger story might not be price.

It’s information flow.

A high-volume prediction market based on a viral investigation teaser. Prediction markets became potential profit machines. And now the market is repeating an oft-asked question in crypto:

  1. Who knew first?

  2. And who traded on it?

POLL: Do you think insiders traded the ZachXBT reveal?

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📊 Market Watch

1️⃣ Block slashes half its work force, shares surge 25%

The reason? AI.

Block said in its shareholder letter that “intelligence tools” allow a small team to move faster and do more. In other words, automation is eliminating layers of headcount.

The numbers made this story fly. Gross profit up 24% YoY and Cash App gross profit increased 33%.

2️⃣ A.I. boom poses 45 percent risk of tipping into recession, Moody’s says

Moody’s now also estimates a 45 percent probability that the United States will slip into recession: with artificial intelligence partly to blame.

A separate one, from Moody’s discovered $662 billion of more quietly off-balance-sheet data center commitments lurked behind the hyperscalers. All told, lease exposure is nearing $1 trillion.

But if the revenues from artificial intelligence scale as advertised, then no problem.

If they don’t? Those commitments still come due.

The risks are simple:

  • AI stocks correct hard

  • The pace of job loss to automation exceeds that at which the economy can reskill workers

And AI capex is now closing in on 2% of U.S. GDP. It is no longer a niche theme. That’s macro.

3️⃣ Jane Street scrubs its X history as lawsuits pile up

Then Jane Street deleted all of the tweet form it's X profile after claims of market manipulation surfaced against them.

The firm denies the claims. The complaint is heavily redacted.

Simultaneously, there was something curious that traders dug: Crypto markets have soared since the lawsuit came to light. Others missed the dreaded “10 a.m. dump,” which had lingered over previous rallies.

Coincidence? Sentiment shift? Narrative changing?

For now, the market seems to think the air just got lighter.

 🐥 Top tweets

Chart our Analyst is Watching

DOT is up 27% this week as its first halving approaches on March 14.

Annual issuance is set to drop from ~120M DOT to ~55M: part of a broader shift toward a 2.1B hard cap. The supply slowdown is giving traders a familiar scarcity narrative.

Add ETF speculation to the mix, 21Shares and Grayscale filings are still under SEC review, and DOT suddenly has both a supply catalyst and a Wall Street angle.

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