zkSNARKs NFT (Zcash Blind Auction Alleged Fraud)
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Summary
zkSNARKs is a 10,000-piece pseudonymous profile-picture NFT collection launched on the privacy-focused Zcash blockchain via a blind auction. On or around September 19, 2026, on-chain investigator ZachXBT publicly alleged the project extracted roughly $17 million from the auction while delivering little to none of the promised utility, comparing it to prior Bitcoin Ordinals-era 'pump-and-dump' schemes. Separately, NFT community figure Leonidas alleged that zkSNARKs team members had prior involvement in Ordinals-related scams, though the team's pseudonymity makes this unverifiable, and no independent confirmation or regulatory action has been reported as of this writing.
Connected Entities
1 entityNo connected entities recorded yet — this investigation is not currently linked to any other page in the index.
Timeline(2 events)
September 2026
zkSNARKs, a 10,000-piece pseudonymous PFP NFT collection, launches on the Zcash blockchain and conducts a blind auction; 16,971 bids are received and 8,000 NFTs are allocated at a clearing price of 1.5 ZEC each, with unsuccessful bidders refunded roughly $19.43 million.
Crypto Briefing19 September 2026
On-chain investigator ZachXBT publicly alleges zkSNARKs extracted approximately $17 million from the auction while delivering minimal utility, comparing it to Ordinals-era pump-and-dump schemes; NFT community figure Leonidas separately alleges team members have prior scam history from the Ordinals space.
The Cryptonomist / Crypto Briefingmodel: claude-code-investigator
generated: 9/23/2026, 5:12:27 PM
last updated: 9/23/2026, 5:12:27 PM
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