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Notable blockchain investigator ZachXBT has revealed connections between the WhiteRock Finance project and the infamous $33 million ZKasino exit scam, shedding light on what seems to be a complex money laundering scheme.
This operation was intended to legitimize misappropriated funds through a seemingly credible real-world asset tokenization platform.
The investigation uncovers direct on-chain links between WhiteRock’s marketing wallets, the stolen presale funds from ZKasino, and a personal email address that connects key members from both initiatives.
1/ Community Alert: At least one team member from the $30M Zkasino exit scam appears to be involved with the project @WhiteRock_Fi $WHITE due to onchain transactions linking both projects and a personal email address. pic.twitter.com/rZSvLM98fR
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 16, 2025
What is ZKasino?
The ZKasino controversy first emerged in April 2024 when the blockchain gambling initiative unexpectedly redirected $33 million of investor funds to Lido’s staking protocol instead of returning them as promised to presale investors.
This scheme resulted in the arrest of team member Elham Nourzai by Dutch financial crime authorities, while alleged accomplices Ildar Ilham and Lior Ben Zakan reportedly fled to the Middle East.
After Nourzai’s release in late 2024, the misappropriated funds began circulating through a sophisticated laundering network that utilized chain-hopping across ZkSync, Starknet, EVM, and Solana networks.
Funds were converted to Monero through instant exchanges, cashed out via OTC brokers, and traded on perpetual platforms like Hyperliquid.
ZachXBT’s investigation indicates that WhiteRock appeared in late 2024 with immediate warning signs, including an anonymous team lacking verifiable backgrounds, false partnership claims, and funding sources associated with instant exchanges frequently used for money laundering.
4/ WhiteRock (WHITE) appeared late last year and a number of large red flags were immediately observed.
-anon team w/o history
-team called out for faking partnerships
-team has many side wallets all funded via instant exchanges
-team exaggerates number of users
-USDX backing… https://t.co/e9DhRNzT1T pic.twitter.com/CC8olsxFvi— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 16, 2025
The investigator traced funds from ZKasino’s stolen treasury directly to WhiteRock’s marketing wallet, which was later utilized to compensate influencers for promotional activities.
Most notably, ZachXBT found that a personal email address linked to WhiteRock’s deployer wallet belongs to an account named “IldarTheGrandMaster” on Chess.com.
This connection directly associates the project with Ildar Ilham, one of the alleged masterminds behind ZKasino, who operates under the alias “Prometheus.”
From Presale Scam to RWA Revolution: The ZKasino Money Laundering Scheme
The ZKasino exit scam stands as one of the most audacious breaches of investor trust in recent cryptocurrency history. It began as a promising blockchain gambling platform that raised over $30 million through presales before revealing its true intentions.
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The project initially assured participants that their bridged Ethereum would be refundable, but when launch day arrived on April 20, 2024, ZKasino drastically changed the terms.
Instead of fulfilling withdrawal requests, the team converted all 10,515 ETH to ZKAS tokens at a significantly reduced rate of $0.055, subject to a punitive 15-month vesting schedule that effectively locked investor funds.
The deception intensified when investigators uncovered that ZKasino’s purported revolutionary blockchain was merely an Arbitrum Nitro chain devoid of the zero-knowledge technology that was central to its marketing claims.
Following the collapse and subsequent arrests, the stolen funds underwent intricate laundering through various blockchain networks and financial instruments.
This multi-faceted laundering approach, as explained by ZachXBT, resembles tactics observed in other significant crypto crimes.
Australian authorities have charged four individuals over a scheme that allegedly laundered $123 million through businesses and crypto.#Australia #amlhttps://t.co/uV1errA8TV
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) June 9, 2025
Recent instances include Australian authorities uncovering a $190 million laundering network that blended illicit crypto with legitimate business income and European investigations into OKX’s alleged involvement in laundering $100 million from the Bybit hack.
How Stolen Millions Funded WhiteRock’s Success Story
WhiteRock, which launched on December 24, 2024, positioned itself as an innovative platform aimed at integrating traditional markets with blockchain technology.
The platform quickly gained popularity by pledging to democratize access to traditionally exclusive wealth-building opportunities through its native WHITE token and USDX stablecoin.
However, ZachXBT’s investigation reveals that WhiteRock’s impressive growth metrics and partnership assertions were based on fraudulent premises.
The project’s marketing initiatives, funded directly through wallets containing ZKasino’s stolen assets, promoted fictitious partnerships with major financial entities.
5/ I found an influencer who was paid via a WhiteRock marketing wallet and they confirmed they were paid from
0xfd978bcb706133403cf2fe0e07d872342c81266b
Tracing out 0xfd97 shows a clear commingling of funds from the WhiteRock marketing wallet and Zkasino stolen funds.
I also… pic.twitter.com/kGEy9POxz3— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 16, 2025
StoneX publicly refuted WhiteRock’s partnership claims, while alleged collaborations with BlackRock and First Citizens Bank lacked any verifiable proof.
The project’s most audacious assertion involved rumors of a partnership with Saudi Aramco through Ripple to tokenize oil supply chains, which propelled WHITE token prices up 110% on May 30 despite lacking any factual basis.
ZachXBT has urged major exchanges, including MEXC and Gate.io, to delist the WHITE token and perform enhanced due diligence.
The post ZachXBT Exposes WhiteRock Token as Potential $33M ZKasino Money Laundering Scheme appeared first on Cryptonews.
