Scams and hacks have been some of the most significant issues affecting the crypto industry over the past few years. As a result, the space has seen the birth of several blockchain investigators striving to ensure the digital asset space is safe for everyone to go about their business with ease and confidence.
ZachXBT, one of these popular on-chain sleuths on the X platform, has come forward with an interesting revelation about his recent encounters with a certain law enforcement agency in the United States. The investigator disclosed that he has been “borderline harassed” by this agency in the last few months.
Authorities Seek Help From On-Chain Sleuth
On Friday, April 5, ZachXBT revealed – via a post on X – that he has been repeatedly harassed by agents of the Criminal Investigation (CI) unit of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The on-chain detective accused these individuals of a “blatant disregard for professionalism” in the process of asking for his assistance on blockchain investigations on multiple occasions.
ZachXBT said in his post:
They have shown up irl (in real life) to old addresses, contacted personal emails using private data, and have sent mail when I have public contact methods readily available.
In one of the shared images, ZachXBT showed an email from an IRS-CI special agent asking for the crypto investigator’s assistance on new digital asset cases. The IRS-CI special agent went on to praise the blockchain sleuth for doing some “really impressive work” to ensure the safety of the crypto space.
Source: ZachXBT/X
Furthermore, ZachXBT reiterated his commitment to helping victims of scams by providing the necessary documentation to law enforcement agencies. However, the on-chain investigator mentioned his unwillingness to do so once his boundaries and privacy were breached.
ZachXBT Refuses To Help In Crypto-Related Crimes
It appears that a “blatant disregard for any professionalism” is not the only reason ZachXBT would decline to offer his expertise in blockchain crime cases. Recently, the crypto detective refused to help holders of Complex (SIMPLE), a meme coin project that was shut down a few days after its launch on the Base network.
ZachXBT explained in a post on X:
I simply dislike spending long periods helping people who willingly choose to gamble on vaporware meme coins vs. actual victims.
According to a statement on April 4, the meme coin’s developers shut down the Complex project due to recent instances of harassment, citing its impact on the mental well-being of their members. As of press time, the SIMPLE coin has lost almost all of its value, with a market cap of less than $80,000.
The total cryptocurrency market cap at $2.45 trillion on the daily timeframe | Source: TOTAL chart on TradingView