Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT's doxxing of 'memecoin supercycle' promoter Murad Mahmudov's addresses sparks crypto community debate

Onchain sleuth ZachXBT’s doxxing of Bitcoin maximalist turned memecoin investor Murad Mahmudov’s addresses has stirred up significant debate in the crypto community over the past 24 hours, with some arguing it was unnecessary and others that such transparency was needed and inevitable given the public nature of blockchain ledgers.

The story came to the fore following Mahmudov’s " memecoin supercycle " talk at Token2049 last month, helping to spark renewed enthusiasm for the crypto niche and propelling him to the “main character” status of the moment. In the context of “Crypto Twitter,” main character status refers to someone who becomes highly visible and central in discussions, often because of controversial opinions, significant trades or bold predictions.

Mahmudov has made millions of dollars in the last few months, according to the blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, and has suggested memecoins could potentially reach market capitalizations of $100 billion, equivalent to any one of the current top three cryptocurrencies.

Mahmudov is also no stranger to the space, having previously led the crypto hedge fund Adaptive Capital until its demise in 2020. In a letter to investors at the time, the company said it “took a big hit,” reportedly of more than 50%, following a drop in bitcoin’s price amid the market’s Covid crash of March that year, blaming poor exchange infrastructure at BitMEX for its inability to respond properly to the sell-off.

In a post to X on Wednesday, ZachXBT said he had uncovered 11 “high confidence” addresses linked to the trader, based on the same source of funds and Mahmudov’s social media activity, holding approximately $24 million in memecoins on Ethereum and Solana, “so the community can monitor his future activity.”

ZachXBT added the aim was to ensure Mahmudov does not end up "dumping" on followers because he allegedly holds a significant portion of the supply for multiple memecoins and people should be able to make more informed decisions.

Mahmudov did not appear to respond directly to ZachXBT. However, in his only two posts following the reveal, the memecoin evangelist said that “diamond-handed believers” would outperform all traders and that people should “stop trading and believe in something.”

“Memecoins will be the biggest winners of this cycle, Mahmudov added . “This is what the people want, and they will make it happen.”

The Block reached out to ZachXBT and Murad Mahmudov for comment.

To dox or not to dox, that is the question

Critics said ZachXBT went too far by exposing Mahmudov without proof of wrongdoing, putting him at potential risk of harm, especially given the onchain sleuths own analysis of an uptick in real-life crypto robberies. “Murad isn’t anonymous ... it seems unfair to disclose his wallet details before he’s done anything wrong,” crypto trader “Truenomic” argued .

ZachXBT responded that Mahmudov had already shared position sizes for the memecoins, broadcasting it on podcasts and at conferences so was already exposed to such risk.

Others argued that ZachXBT’s doxing would hurt retail investors because if Mahmudov sells, it could crash memecoin prices, whereas he could have sold gradually. BlockTower Capital CIO Ari Paul countered that revealing the wallets was beneficial for transparency and preventing scams, adding that memecoins are a zero-sum game, where profits for early investors come at the expense of later ones.

Meanwhile some claimed he simply had a dislike for memecoins in taking the action. Many in the crypto community argue that memecoins are worthless pump-and-dump schemes with no intrinsic value or utility. However, advocates say their value comes from their communities and they are more transparent and honest, with an open playing field compared to many VC-funded low-float “legitimate” tokens in the crypto space.

“Nah I just dislike influencers who use large followings to disingenuously promote low liquidity meme coins because they have no other edge or those who understand the risk yet gamble and cry to me after getting rugged. That has always been my stance, people are free to trade whatever coins they want,” ZachXBT explained.

On the other hand, many people supported ZachXBT’s move, pointing out that the information was already publicly available and arguing that anyone could have pieced this together given Mahmudov’s social media activity and analyzing public blockchain networks.

Identifying individuals behind large wallets is nothing new in the crypto space and is often celebrated when it helps to identify scams and rug pulls or recover stolen funds.

Community member “WazzCrypto” suggested that if the memecoin thesis was so strong, knowing one of the top holder’s wallets shouldn't have any impact.

“What would happen to your bags tomorrow if Murad stopped shilling them? Or deleted his Twitter? Is your entire portfolio dependent on one single man shilling your coins? Maybe that's why you feel so wronged by Zach's post? I'm sure some of you won't like the answer to these questions” they added.

However, others were more diplomatic. “I think both sides are overreacting here. If I were appointed judge of doxxing morals in this case, I’d say it probably leans slightly immoral. Only because atm he seems to have acted in good faith and the pvp nature of the space does put a bit of a bounty on his head. Not ideal, however unlikely that anything serious happens,” community member “wankfrilczek” said .