ZachXBT offers $10,000 bounty for evidence against Hong Kong market maker HSBG

ZachXBT is offering up to $10,000 for insider evidence that Hong Kong market maker HSBG manipulated centralized exchange markets, including trades around RIVER.

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT has announced a bounty of up to $10,000 for whistleblowers who can provide credible insider evidence of market manipulation tied to Hong Kong market maker “Heisenberg Guru” (HSBG). In a post shared via his investigations channel, he claimed that HSBG has been involved in “multiple market manipulation incidents” on centralized exchanges, singling out trading around the token RIVER as one of the affected markets.

ZachXBT targets alleged CEX manipulation ring

According to his statement, the goal of the bounty is to surface hard evidence that could substantiate or refute suspicions circulating in trading circles about HSBG’s tactics on order books. By explicitly framing the offer around “insider information,” ZachXBT is clearly aiming to reach people who have worked with, or inside, the market-making operation and have direct visibility into its strategies and instructions.

He also emphasized that the maximum payout is “up to” $10,000, implying that rewards will scale with the quality, relevance, and verifiability of the submissions rather than being a flat fee. That structure mirrors how he has handled other crowdsourced investigations, where documentation that can be independently confirmed often receives higher compensation than anonymous accusations.

Call for whistleblowers and documentary evidence

In his call for information, ZachXBT named “Sion” and “Chao” as core members of the HSBG operation, effectively putting specific individuals, rather than just a trading handle, under the spotlight. He suggested that a broad range of materials could be eligible for rewards, including chat records, contracts, and other internal communications that shed light on how HSBG coordinates trading activity on centralized exchanges.

Potential whistleblowers are being asked to submit tips by sending him a private message on X, where he runs most of his public-facing investigative work. While he did not outline an explicit verification process in the initial announcement, his prior investigations have typically involved cross-checking on-chain data, platform logs, and corroborating testimony before publishing detailed reports.

The move underlines the growing role of independent on-chain investigators in policing grey-zone behavior in crypto markets, particularly in areas like thinly traded CEX listings where formal enforcement remains patchy. If the bounty surfaces credible documentation of manipulation linked to HSBG or any associated accounts, it could increase pressure on exchanges to revisit their relationships with certain market makers and potentially spur regulators to take a closer look at trading practices in the Hong Kong-linked segment of the market.