Impact: Sets a precedent for collaboration between blockchains and analysts.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has explained how he uses blockchain ecosystem grants to support his independent research. In a more recent post, he mentioned that he gives priority to ecosystems which offer financial support, such as Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, Arbitrum, and Optimism. This clarification came after his previous announcement in September 2025, when he acknowledged that he would not give cases of other chains not supported such as BNB Smart Chain (BSC) and zkSync a priority. Nonetheless, in a manner that attests to the opposition, Zach pointed out that to continue the magnitude and pace of his studies, sustainable funds in terms of ecosystem grants is essential.
ZachXBT became a partner of BNB Chain in November 2025, and this is one of the largest milestones in terms of blockchain security partnerships. This is after he had discovered the $50 million Uranium Finance scam and a Discord server breach on BSC. This outreach by BNB Chain resulted in bilateral support consultation, which saw the establishment of an official coalition to improve exploit detection and transparency in real-time. The collaboration is in line with the current activities of BNB Chain such as DappBay and Avenger DAO, which aims at detecting and disarming bad contracts in its ecosystem.
The news caused both positive and negative reactions in the crypto world. There were other users such as @k1z4 who accused ZachXBT of betraying independence by aligning with large blockchain projects. Others, however, justified his action as being practical since independent investigators depend on monetary sponsors to keep their BNB operations going. The collaboration was hailed by its supporters such as @Intern_BSC as a move towards accountability and safer on-chain setups. The discussion emphasized the increasing conflict between the principles of decentralization and the necessity to have steady financing of investigative journalism in the Web3.
The collaboration between ZachXBT and BNB Chain represents an overall industry trend of formalizing the relationships between blockchain networks and independent researchers. As the collaboration shows how community grants can enhance the security of ecosystems such as Ethereum and Solana, which already provide community grants, the cooperation illustrates how funding transparency can enhance the security of the ecosystems without reducing autonomy. This fact is also an indicator of a trend with the ecosystems competing to provide quicker and more effective response to the hacks, exploits, and scams. In the case of BNB Chain, a collaboration with a reputable and high-profile investigator might be relevant to regain trust with the community following multiple exploit scandals in the past.
