US Law Enforcement Is Reportedly Harassing ZachXBT

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT claims that the Criminal Investigation (CI) Unit of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has engaged in what he perceives as borderline harassment in their attempts to enlist his help in blockchain investigations.

In a post dated March 6th on X, ZachXBT stated that while he has been willing to assist victims and support law enforcement with necessary information, he believes that the U.S. law enforcement agency has violated his personal boundaries in their pursuit of his assistance in solving blockchain-related crimes.

Personal Boundaries

ZachXBT alleged that the Fed have appeared in person at previous addresses, contacted personal email addresses using private data, and sent mail despite his availability through public contact methods.

One of the images shared by ZachXBT included an email via an IRS-CI special agent seeking his assistance and commending his impressive work in blockchain tracing. The email acknowledged the limited expertise of the agent in the blockchain industry and expressed a desire to learn more through ZachXBT. Still, the blockchain investigator criticized the multiple forms of contact as a blatant disregard for professionalism.

Reorganizing Priorities

The incident follows continued refusal by ZachXBT to aid holders of the Complex (SIMPLE) meme coin, minted on the Base blockchain after its developers abruptly terminated the project on April 4th. He expressed discontent with spending significant time helping individuals who choose to invest in speculative meme coins rather than assisting genuine victims.

In contrast, the IRS has been strengthening its partnerships with prominent figures and companies in the blockchain tracing field. In May 2023, it was reported that IRS-CI Chief Jim Lee emphasized the importance of continued collaboration with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, stating that their partnership has become indispensable for investigating crypto-related crimes. Lee highlighted that without the infrastructure and tools provided by Chainalysis, any efforts by the unit to combat crypto-related crimes would be significantly hindered.

During that time, the IRS-CI estimated that it had seized cryptocurrency assets worth $10 billion since the inception of its investigations into a wide range of crimes involving digital assets.