ZachXBT has recently went on the internet to warn the crypto community against a cult leader named Murad Mahmudov, which has sparked heated discussions among the community.
Some have criticised ZachXBT for publicly doxxing another person for voicing his opinions, but ZachXBT clarifies that people should make more informed decisions about the token they purchase, rather than just follow KOL with large followings.
Who is Mura Mahmudov and how did he become a "cult leader"
Murad's first exposure to cryptocurrencies was through a friend that he met in China when he was studying abroad in China back in 2013. Murad initially started working in a traditional finance institution before resigning and becoming a Bitcoin Maxi.
2017 was when he started creating more works in the crypto field, including on-chain analysis articles, trading and even participating in DeFi development. In just a span of one year, he amassed a fan base of ten thousand people and he was viewed by many as the leading Bitcoin analysts. Seven months later, his portfolio grew five times larger!
In 2019, Murad founded a fund called Adaptive Capital. But during the March 12 crash in 2020, the fund was unable to stay afloat, leading to bankruptcy. After its bankruptcy, Murad continued to invest in Bitcoin and startups but started to withdraw himself from social media.
In 2022, Murad announced his return, rekindling his passion for crypto. But 2024 was the year where Murad earned his title of a "cult master" after he decided to focus his attention on memecoins. He started dabbling into the memecoins in the early part of this year, and started sharing his meme trading philosophy and targets from June.
ZachXBT's expose
In his expose, ZachXBT revealed that Murad had 11 Ethereum and solana wallets, which adds up to a total worth of $24 million.
ZachXBT speculated that these wallets could belong to the meme guru because they are funded from the same source on Ethereum and the holdings are similar to his posts. And the purpose for ZachXBT to expose these wallets is so the community can monitor Murad's activities.
He pointed out the hypocrisy of how Murad is making such bold predictions about memecoin to thousands and thousands of followers while controlling the supply of those tokens. He specifically pointed to the purchase of $449,886 of MINI coins on July 16 - just one hour before Murad made an X post about acquiring 1% of the supply.
He also noticed that many of the Solana addresses and funding sources are linked to a team address STFX, leading him to solidify his speculations that these wallets belong to Murad. Murad is an investor of STFX, a DeFi and SocialFi protocol for short-term asset management.
Thus ZachXBT believed that by exposing these truths, investors can make more informed decisions about the coins they buy. ZachXBT have also previously called Mahmudov out for using his following to promote coins.
Mixed reactions
This expose was met with mixed reactions, with some criticising his of doxing Mahmudov's wallets, which could pose dangers to him due to the significant value of assets he holds in these wallets.
On the other hand, there are others who have praised the move claiming that it has created greater transparency. Some X users also noted that the reveal could be a boon for Mahmudov as the wallets - if they're his - could show he's legitimate as he invested in memecoins.
Memecoin's place on the market?
Memecoin has been a hotly debated topic over the last year as critics are on an ongoing debate if there is a place in the market for memecoin.
Some industry leaders believe that memecoins play a crucial role in introducing new users to the crypto space. However, the significant returns that have attracted fresh investors may not be sustainable in the long run.
On the other hand, critics argue that memecoins often enable insiders and early investors to capitalize on the hype, leaving less experienced users vulnerable. Many invest without fully understanding the coin, only to suffer losses when the early adopters cash out and exit the market.
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