ZachXBT Cited in Lawsuit

ZachXBT, an independent blockchain investigator, has been cited in a Canadian class-action lawsuit against Boneheads for an alleged $3.1 million nonfungible token (NFT) scam.

ZachXBT reiterated in a July 7 tweet that the Boneheads team “quickly disappeared and spent the mint funds on BAYCs [Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs], luxury goods, and other items, never fulfilling the roadmap.”

ZachXBT added, “Yet another instance in which my research has been cited.” Mid-June saw the initial filing of the class action lawsuit with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

According to a statement of claim filed on June 19, the Boneheads team has been accused of breach of contract with investors for, among other things, failing to deliver on the project’s roadmap, misappropriating funds, undertaking fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligent misrepresentation.

“As of the date of filing this claim, the Boneheads NFT team has not delivered on a single roadmap promise they had made to Boneheads NFT purchasers,” the filing states, adding:

“Consumers have not received a single NFT airdrop, token, physical collectible, marketplace access, forging, avatar application, voting right, giveaway, or the dozens of other promises that were made to consumers in consideration for purchasing or minting a Boneheads NFT.”

Looking at the references to ZachXBT, the filing highlights the sleuth’s investigation into the project published on Twitter on July 14, 2022, as well as other posts from the following month.

ZachXBT detailed in the initial thread how the project purportedly misappropriated funds that were intended to support the Boneheads roadmap.

ZachXBT also described how quickly the project became inactive after the mint and revealed the project’s key participants as he tracked their shady activities.

Despite months of inactivity on social media, the Boneheads team immediately responded to ZachXBT’s posts via Twitter, stating that Boneheads was not a scam but a “very deliberately slow creative process,” according to the filing. Adding:

“They subsequently announced that 21, a ‘new’ collection, would be dropping on the anniversary of their project launch, in August 2022. No such collection was ever released.”

Additionally, ZachXBT’s work has been used on a handful of occasions to build cases against bad actors in the NFT space. Following a protracted investigation by ZachXBT, the FBI seized 86.5 Ether and $100,000 worth of NFTs from a phishing scammer in February.

In October 2022, France’s national cyber unit cited ZachXBT’s assistance in capturing and charging a group of alleged phishing fraudsters suspected of stealing NFTs worth $2.5 million.