An anonymous team can still walk away with tens of millions of dollars for a JPEG collection that does nothing, and Zcash's fastest-growing corner just proved it. On-chain investigator ZachXBT is accusing the zkSNARKs NFT project of running what he calls an eight-figure money grab, after its blind-auction launch pulled in roughly $17 million from bidders with no product, no roadmap and no clear plan for the funds.
How the auction worked
zkSNARKs sold 8,000 of a planned 10,000-piece profile-picture collection through a blind bidding format priced in ZEC. The clearing price landed at 1.5 ZEC per NFT, worth roughly $2,000 at the time of the sale. But the auction drew far more demand than supply: 16,971 total bids came in, generating about 25,305 ZEC, or roughly $36.94 million, in gross volume. Unsuccessful bidders were refunded approximately 13,309 ZEC, near $19.43 million, leaving the project with proceeds of about $17.5 million.
ZachXBT's complaint centers on what happens after the money lands. He says the team has deployed no governance framework, built no community access tools, announced no ecosystem partnerships and offered no clear account of how the $17.5 million war chest will be spent. Compounding the criticism, the team reserved 1,000 NFTs, a 10% allocation, for itself at no cost ahead of the public sale, and wrote in a 5% royalty on every future resale, a structure that keeps revenue flowing to the founders long after launch.
Echoes of the Ordinals cycle
NFT community figure Leonidas has gone further, alleging that members of the zkSNARKs team were previously involved in projects tied to the Ordinals boom that also drew scam accusations, though he has not produced documentation and the claim remains unverified. The comparison lands at an awkward moment for Zcash, whose privacy-coin rally has turned the network into one of the year's most talked-about venues for speculative capital.
That backdrop is exactly why the zkSNARKs auction found so many bidders in the first place. ZEC has surged more than 2,400% in 2026, fueled by the launch of Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF in August and growing use of the network's shielded-transaction features, and hit an all-time high above $1,580 on September 17.
Related: Zcash Hits All-Time High Above $1,580 as Whale Moves $362M to Coinbase
A blind auction denominated in a token that has multiplied more than twenty-fold in nine months turns even a speculative PFP drop into a low-friction way to deploy fresh ZEC gains, which likely explains why 16,971 bids showed up for 8,000 spots.
The pattern isn't unique to Zcash. Speculative mania around fast-appreciating tokens has repeatedly produced side projects that capture liquidity without building anything durable: even a single whale's $9.05 million bet on a 145% UNI rally shows how quickly capital chases momentum once a token starts moving, with or without a clear thesis behind it. It also echoes a wider trend of bad actors following the money: scammers have used fake AI trading bot tutorials to drain 274.6 ETH from 224 victims this year, a reminder that the faster a sector rallies, the more predatory schemes tend to attach themselves to it.
Neither ZachXBT nor Leonidas has alleged that zkSNARKs' creators broke any law, and the project had not issued a public response to the accusations as of publication. For now, the $17.5 million sits in the team's control, with bidders left to judge whether a blind auction with no delivered utility was worth the ZEC they spent chasing it.
FAQ
What is the zkSNARKs NFT project?
It is a profile-picture NFT collection built on Zcash that sold 8,000 pieces through a blind ZEC-denominated auction, raising roughly $17.5 million in net proceeds.
What is ZachXBT accusing the team of?
ZachXBT says the project collected $17 million from bidders while delivering no governance tools, community features or ecosystem partnerships, calling it an eight-figure money grab.
How much did the zkSNARKs team keep for itself?
The team reserved a 10% allocation, 1,000 NFTs, at no cost before the public sale, and built in a 5% royalty on all future resales.
Has the zkSNARKs team responded to the allegations?
No public response had been issued as of publication, and no charges or lawsuits have been reported.
