Scandal in Axiom: ZachXBT Exposes "Dark Deeds" of the Platform

In the world of cryptocurrencies, another scandal has unfolded related to insider trading. The well-known on-chain detective ZachXBT has published a detailed investigation accusing several employees of the Axiom Exchange trading platform of abusing internal tools to track wallets of major traders and influencers. According to the data, they traded meme-coins before public announcements, using confidential user information. This occurred amid the rapid growth of Axiom, which went through the Y Combinator accelerator in 2025 and earned over $390 million in revenue.

Details of ZachXBT's Investigation

The investigation focuses on Brooks Bauer (@WheresBroox), a senior business development manager at Axiom based in New York. According to the evidence, Brooks and his colleagues, including moderator Seb (Gowno), Ryan (Ryucio), and Mystery, used internal dashboards to access sensitive user data, such as UID, referral codes, wallet lists, transaction history, and tracked addresses. This allowed them to monitor private wallets of key opinion leaders (KOLs), such as trader Marcell, known for buying large volumes of tokens before promoting them in the community.

The evidence includes:

• Audio recordings of private calls where Brooks boasts about the ability to "learn everything about any person" and advises on how to avoid suspicion by gradually increasing the number of queries
• Screenshots from Axiom's internal dashboards showing wallets of traders Jerry, Monix, and others.
• A Google spreadsheet compiling KOL wallets, confirmed by the victims themselves.
• Plans to quickly earn $200k for new moderators through abuses.

ZachXBT notes that Axiom lacked proper access controls, allowing the abuses to continue since early 2025. He also identified Brooks' main wallet (FarpaWkzio7WQVpQeu2eURvNQZ3pCBZupJ95wUjoHcUN) and associated deposit addresses on CEX where funds from trading were received.Axiom responded with a statement acknowledging the issue and promising an internal investigation. Co-founders Mist and Cal claim they were unaware of the abuses, but critics point to the lack of monitoring as a systemic problem.

Insider Trading on Insider Trading

One of the accused, apparently undeterred, placed $65.8k on Polymarket betting that the investigation would concern Axiom specifically, when the odds were only 13.8%. He won $411.4k. ZachXBT traced the funds to a Solana address (4q4Ta79pwyPqmSA3HDzrHN2wpwP8ManBREAbGskaqYcS), linked to an active Axiom user under the nickname 'JustADegen' on Fomo, who recently bundled the CRABS token.

This case sparked outrage: "Insider trading on a prediction market about insider trading, this is some kind of meta hell," writes one X user.Additional analyses on X revealed 13 fresh accounts on Polymarket that simultaneously bet on Axiom before the publication. Their confidence metrics exceed 30%, which is significantly higher than the average for top traders (around 20%). One of them is linked to Tornado Cash and FTX interactions, indicating possible coordination.

Connection to Provided Information: Profile of wheresbroox

The user provided a screenshot of the wheresbroox (ping) profile in the Discord server AXM (likely Axiom), where he has roles Team, Mod, and Verified. The profile is linked to a Steam account (Broox) and X (@WheresBroox) with 122 posts and 1886 followers. This matches the person exposed by ZachXBT as Broox Bauer, confirming his status in the Axiom team. Such information highlights how internal roles allowed access to sensitive data, leading to abuses.

Community Reaction and Consequences

The community is divided: some criticize ZachXBT for a "paid investigation" and hypothetical bias, others praise him for cleaning up the space. Some argue that this is a case for private protocols, like programmable privacy, to avoid similar leaks.

Legally, the case may fall under the jurisdiction of SDNY (Southern District of New York), as Brooks is based in NYC. However, SEC rules on insider trading do not apply to meme-coins, complicating prosecution.

This scandal underscores vulnerabilities in DeFi platforms and emphasizes the need for better access controls. Axiom is already losing trust, and Polymarket faces ethical questions regarding such markets.