Crypto never sleeps. And this week proved it again.
Alright, we lost a bet on Polymarket. Pump.fun was not the bad actor that ZachXBT was about to expose.
Turns out it was Axiom Exchange.
So today we break down the full Zachxbt Axiom investigation. Then we cover more wild crypto news. South Korea lost millions in BTC after leaking a seed phrase. OpenAI raised over $100B. Is that an AI top signal?
Like always, you can’t sleep on crypto. Every single day something happens that you can follow, trade, or farm.
Let’s dive in.
1) Zachxbt Axiom Investigation Shocks the Industry
The Zachxbt Axiom story exploded after Zach published findings alleging insider data abuse at Axiom Exchange.
According to the investigation, employees had access to an internal dashboard that exposed:
- Wallet addresses
- Transaction histories
- Tracked accounts
- Referral-linked data
That access allegedly allowed certain staff members to monitor profitable traders and front-run trades.
Tracking Influencers and “Bundlers”
The investigation claims employees compiled a Google Sheet tracking wallets belonging to influencers and “bundlers.” These are traders who accumulate memecoins early and then promote them.
The alleged strategy?
Buy before the influencer pushes.
Wait for retail hype.
Sell into the pump.
One individual named was Broox Bauer, also known as WheresBroox, a senior business development employee based in New York. Recordings cited in the report allegedly show him claiming he could track users and expand surveillance gradually to avoid detection.
Screenshots reportedly showed dashboard access to private wallet lists in 2025. Several influencers contacted said the wallet data attributed to them appeared accurate.
That suggests the information did not come from public sources.
Wider Employee Network?
The report also referenced other employees and moderators who may have had similar access. The main concern here is not just one rogue actor.
It’s governance.
When internal tools provide broad visibility into user behavior, and monitoring is weak, abuse becomes easier.
Axiom responded publicly, saying they were “shocked and disappointed” and that access to internal tools had been removed pending investigation.
For a fast-growing company founded in 2024 and backed by major accelerators, this is a major credibility test.
The Polymarket Irony
Here’s the funny part.
While the market speculated who Zach would expose, large bets were placed on Axiom on Polymarket shortly before the market closed.
Over $1M in winnings.
Was that just sharp speculation? Or the final insider bet from the insiders themselves?
The irony is almost poetic.
2) Airdrop Claims & Farming Updates
If you’re farming airdrops, missing a simple step can cost you thousands.
Sometimes it’s as silly as forgetting to sign updated terms. Or not checking eligibility in time.
So don’t sleep on this section.
Hyperlend TGE
Hyperlend’s TGE is here. The airdrop claim is not live yet, but most likely soon. Keep an eye on it.
Fableborne $POWER
If you farmed Fableborne, check your eligibility for the $POWER airdrop. The token has been exploding.
Also check the new season here
Decibel Season 1
Decibel Season 1 has moved to mainnet. If you participated early, verify your status.
Unclaimed Airdrops Checker
Last weekend we launched a free unclaimed airdrops checker.
If you farmed in the past, you might be sitting on money and not even know it.
Here’s the guide:
Don’t let laziness cost you free tokens.
3) South Korea Leaks Seed Phrase, Loses $4.8M
This one is wild.
South Korea’s National Tax Service reportedly published a wallet seed phrase in an official press release.
Yes, really.
The release allegedly included a photo of a Ledger device and a paper showing the full mnemonic phrase unblurred.
Shortly after, 4 million PRTG tokens worth about $4.8 million were drained.
On-chain data showed:
- 4M tokens deposited
- 4M tokens transferred out in a single move
Blockchain researcher Jaewoo Cho confirmed the theft.
And this isn’t isolated. In a separate case, 22 BTC seized in a 2021 investigation also vanished from police custody.
Let me be honest.
If you see a government recklessly post a seed phrase publicly… would you take it?
Hundreds of people are racing to claim it anyway.
Personally? I’d probably rush to secure it before someone else does. Then I’d contact authorities and negotiate a bounty return.
Is that ethical? Grey area.
But crypto moves fast. And if you don’t act, someone else will.
This episode shows that custody failures are not just a retail problem. Governments are still learning the basics.
4) OpenAI Raises $110B — AI Euphoria or Early Infrastructure Phase?
Let’s zoom out for a second.
OpenAI just raised $110 billion in one of the largest private funding rounds in history.
The structure:
- $50B from Amazon
- $30B from Nvidia
- $30B from SoftBank
- $730B pre-money valuation
And the round is still open.
That number alone should make you pause.
To put it in perspective, OpenAI’s previous round in March 2025 raised $40B at a $300B valuation. In less than a year, the valuation more than doubled.
That is aggressive.
Infrastructure Arms Race
This is not just a funding round. It’s an infrastructure war.
OpenAI committed to consuming massive AWS compute capacity. We’re talking gigawatts of training and inference. Nvidia is involved at scale. Custom chips, dedicated systems, long-term contracts.
This isn’t just capital.
It’s industrial AI infrastructure.
Leadership in AI will likely be defined by who can scale compute fastest. That’s what this round signals.
Is This a Top Signal?
Now here’s where it gets interesting.
Historically, record-breaking funding rounds often cluster near cycle tops.
Think back to:
- NFTs trading at $500K
- Otherside raising $300M in minutes
- Metaverse land flipping like memecoins
When capital becomes absurd, caution usually makes sense.
And $110B is absurd.
Personally, I angel invested in a few AI startups between 2015 and 2020. None raised billions. One did raise a $40M Series B, so I can’t complain. But compared to today’s numbers, that feels tiny.
Right now, everyone is building AI agents.
Even I’m working on spinning up my own personal AI assistant with Clawdbot. Once it’s fully operational, I’ll share a guide.
So maybe this isn’t a top.
Maybe this is the early infrastructure build-out phase before AI becomes as embedded as the internet.
Or maybe this is peak narrative capital flow.
In markets, extremes matter. And this is an extreme.
5) Dutch Box 3 Unrealized Gains Tax — Crypto Investors Dodged a Bullet?
As a Dutchie, I’m following this one very closely.
The new Dutch government has decided to pull back the proposed Box 3 tax reform that would have taxed unrealized gains starting in 2028.
That means:
You hold crypto.
It goes up.
You don’t sell.
You still pay tax.
On paper profits.
That’s a structural problem.
Why Unrealized Gain Tax Is Dangerous
Under the proposed system, investors in:
would have been taxed on increases in value even if they never realized those gains.
Imagine holding volatile assets like crypto and getting taxed at peak valuations — then the market corrects 40%.
You paid tax on money you never actually received.
That’s not just painful. It’s distortionary.
It discourages long-term investing.
They increase forced selling.
It penalizes innovation capital.
Even startups were concerned. Prince Constantijn warned that employees compensated in shares could face heavy tax burdens if valuations rose, even if liquidity didn’t exist.
ABN Amro also raised concerns about penalizing investors.
Political Backpedal
The Minister of Finance acknowledged significant criticism. Amendments are coming.
Glad they’re rethinking this.
If implemented in its harshest form, it would have been brutal for Dutch crypto investors. Honestly, it could have pushed serious capital out of the Netherlands.
And let’s not forget — the minister pushing the law apparently misrepresented her academic credentials. Absolute cinema.
For now, Dutch investors breathe a little easier.
But this shows a broader trend.
Governments are struggling to adapt tax frameworks to digital assets.
And they’re experimenting.
Stay alert.
6) Magic Eden Exits Bitcoin and EVM — NFT Consolidation Phase?
Magic Eden announced it will shut down its Bitcoin and EVM marketplaces.
They are refocusing entirely on Solana.
Timeline:
- Bitcoin & EVM marketplaces shut down early March 2026
- Cross-chain wallet goes export-only mid-March
- Full discontinuation shortly after
- Solana support continues
Strategic Refocus or Market Weakness?
Magic Eden originally dominated Solana NFTs. Then they expanded aggressively into:
- Bitcoin Ordinals
- Ethereum
- Polygon
- Avalanche
That expansion made sense during peak NFT mania.
Multiple chains. More volume. With more liquidity.
But now?
Liquidity is fragmented.
Volume is down across many NFT verticals.
Speculative energy is lower.
Refocusing on Solana reduces operational complexity and cost. It concentrates engineering and liquidity where they historically performed best.
But let’s be honest.
When platforms retract, it’s rarely a sign of explosive growth.
It’s consolidation.
Personal Angle
I stopped actively trading NFTs about 1.5 years ago. It just didn’t feel right anymore. The momentum wasn’t there.
That said, I still hold some Otherside land.
The kid in me still believes digital land could work one day. Maybe gaming integration. Hopefully metaverse revival. Or maybe something we can’t see yet.
But the market is clearly in reset mode.
If you still hold assets on those chains via Magic Eden, make sure to withdraw before deadlines.
Complacency is expensive in crypto.
7) Strategy Becomes Most Shorted Large-Cap Stock — Bitcoin Treasury Model Under Pressure
Strategy is now the most shorted large-cap stock in the United States.
Roughly 14% of its market cap is sold short.
That’s significant.
Short sellers are effectively betting that Strategy’s stock price will fall.
At current valuations, that equates to billions of dollars positioned against the company.
The Bitcoin Treasury Model
Strategy pioneered the corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy in 2020.
The model was simple in theory:
Raise capital.
Buy Bitcoin.
Amplify exposure.
When Bitcoin rallied, the leverage effect was incredible.
The stock surged from around $12 in 2020 to over $473 during the 2025 rally. It outperformed Bitcoin because investors were paying a premium for leveraged BTC exposure.
But leverage cuts both ways.
Now Bitcoin trades far below its highs.
Strategy’s stock has:
- Dropped roughly 60% in six months
- Lost significant premium to NAV
- Become a prime short target
Sector-Wide Weakness
According to data, Strategy now accounts for over 99% of all corporate Bitcoin treasury purchases.
The rest of the 190+ companies in the space? Almost completely inactive.
That tells you something.
Confidence in the treasury model weakens when Bitcoin stagnates.
And stagnation is where we are now.
What This Means
When the most iconic corporate Bitcoin bull becomes the most shorted stock, sentiment has clearly shifted.
Is that a contrarian long signal?
Or is it a warning that the leverage model is under structural stress?
Maybe Strategy can sue Jane Street to boost their share price.
Kidding. Mostly.
But the reality is this:
In bull markets, leverage is genius.
In sideways markets, leverage becomes a liability.
Watch this closely. It could define the next phase of institutional Bitcoin narratives.
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Final Words
This week alone we had:
- The Zachxbt Axiom insider saga
- A government leaking a seed phrase
- $110B AI funding
- NFT platforms retreating
- Strategy under massive short pressure
Crypto moves fast.
There is always volatility.
You can always find an opportunity.
And there is always risk.
Stay sharp.
Farm smart.
And never assume insiders aren’t watching the dashboards.
If you enjoyed this blog, you may want to check our other crypto news updates.
As always, don’t forget to claim your bonus below on Bybit. See you next time!
