The Hyperliquid Foundation has donated 10,000 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $254,000, to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.
This significant contribution marks the second-largest institutional support ZachXBT has received from blockchain platforms, according to his own reporting.
ZachXBT confirmed the donation on his Telegram channel on January 18, 2026, and subsequently updated his list of top donors.
Hyperliquid now ranks second on this list, following Optimism, and precedes other notable blockchain projects such as Octant, The White Whale, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Unipcs, Nouns, CL207, and High Stakes Capital.
Reasons Behind the Donation
The contribution is viewed by some as a symbolic gesture from a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform towards an investigator who has previously exposed fraudulent activities occurring on its network. However, specific reasons for the donation have not been publicly disclosed by either the Hyperliquid Foundation or ZachXBT.
ZachXBT operates as a pseudonymous blockchain investigator and also serves as an advisor for the crypto investment firm Paradigm.
To fund his investigations and combat potential litigation, ZachXBT relies on community donations and grants. He has maintained his anonymity throughout his work.
His investigative methodology involves meticulously tracing cryptocurrency flows across various blockchain networks. By employing techniques such as address clustering, he uncovers hidden connections between wallets and effectively exposes patterns of fraud.
The investigator has played a crucial role in tracking hundreds of millions of dollars involved in various cryptocurrency exploits, establishing himself as a leading fraud detective within the industry.
Recently, ZachXBT highlighted an incident that occurred on January 10, where a victim lost over $282 million in LTC and BTC due to a social engineering scam targeting their hardware wallet, as previously reported by Cryptopolitan.
ZachXBT detailed that "The attacker began converting the stolen LTC & BTC to Monero via multiple instant exchanges, causing the XMR price to sharply increase. BTC was also bridged to Ethereum, Ripple, & Litecoin via Thorchain."
The investigator also shared the address associated with the theft.
ZachXBT's Past Investigations Involving Hyperliquid
The significance of this donation is amplified by ZachXBT's prior investigative work that has directly involved the Hyperliquid platform.
In March 2025, ZachXBT uncovered a sophisticated scam operation and identified the individual orchestrating it, who was a prominent trader on Hyperliquid's decentralized exchange.
The individual behind this scam was identified as William Parker, a UK national with a documented history of fraud and casino theft. ZachXBT's investigation at the time revealed that Parker's trading wallet had received funds originating from phishing scams and other potentially illicit activities.
Parker had gained attention for reportedly generating approximately $20 million through highly leveraged positions on Hyperliquid and GMX. His trading activity also included suspiciously well-timed trades made just before major market announcements.
In a separate instance, ZachXBT flagged a $400,000 exploit that involved the theft of Hypurr NFTs from compromised wallets on the Hyperliquid network.
He has also identified and tracked fraudulent transactions perpetrated by malicious actors on Hyperliquid's platform, although it is important to note that his investigative scope extends beyond this single platform.