ZachXBT's NFT Reaches $3.4 Million Market Cap; Has The Onchain Sleuth Gone Rouge

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT has accidentally created a token on the Base network that has now soared to a $3.4 million market cap.

An beautiful mistake that starteted to bloom

The situation began when ZachXBT used the Zora protocol in August to release an open-edition NFT titled “243M Theft,” a free collectible tied to his investigation into a $243 million theft involving Singaporean hacker, Malone Lam and his co-conspirators who recorded a video of their own crypto heist, and this very video is the key evidence that led to their demise.

But little did he know that the Zora protocol would automatically transform these open-edition NFTs into ERC-20 tokens, making them into tradable memecoins on DEXs like Uniswap.

Has ZachXBT gone rouge?

When ZachXBT first released the ZoraNFT, there were many who were skeptical of his intentions. Online Crypto investigator, Anon Vee drew a comparison between the new NFT and Mr Beast's crypto activities, seemingly seeming to insinuate that ZachXBT's new NFT is just another pump and dump attempt.

But amidst all the allegations, ZachXBT came forward to clarify that he envisioned the NFTs as a tool to archive the investigative content permanently on the blockchain, similar to his articles on Mirror. He explained that he was unaware that an open-release NFT mint will ultimately result in the issuance of an ERC-20 token.

"The Zora UI currently does not give any indication to creators that an ERC-20 token will also be launched at the conclusion of an open edition NFT mint." ZachXBT wrote in an X post.

ZachXBT threatens to kill the token

The protocol created approximately 3,500 tokens on Base through its ERC20Z standard.

Zora’s liquidity system, which wraps NFTs into ERC-20 tokens for seamless trading on Uniswap, made these NFTs tradable on secondary markets without ZachXBT’s intention. This ERC20z standard, now Zora’s default for new mints, mirrors similar functionalities on token platforms like pump.fun.

However, the automatic liquidity provision led to the token being bought and sold on secondary markets, contrary to ZachXBT's intentions.

The token’s market cap, skyrocked from groundzero to $4,300 per token, with a market cap of $15 million at its peak. But since then, its value has dropped to $4 million market cap right now, according to DEX Screener data.

In response to the speculative buying frenzy, ZachXBT voiced frustration: “If people keep tagging me, I’ll consider diluting the piece with unlimited mints or even replacing the artwork with a blank image.”

Zora has not yet commented on the incident.