The on-chain sleuth flagged large sales from a team-linked multisig eight days after launch, while Axis Robotics blames an OTC counterparty
Axis Robotics launched its AXIS token on October 21, 2026. Eight days later, the token had lost 40% of its value in a single day.
The trigger was a report from on-chain investigator ZachXBT. He said suspected Axis Robotics insiders sold 42 million AXIS tokens, setting off a sharp sell-off that the project now says it had nothing to do with.
What ZachXBT found
According to the research findings tied to ZachXBT’s disclosure, more than 76 million AXIS tokens were withdrawn on October 29, 2026. They came from a multisig wallet controlled by the team.
The withdrawn tokens were worth more than $12 million at the time. Most of them were reportedly sold on decentralized exchanges on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network where AXIS lives.
Some of the tokens took a different route. Part of the stash was transferred to Bitget, a centralized exchange.
One address stood out. That wallet offloaded approximately 42 million AXIS within the 24-hour window, according to the findings.
The proceeds were converted into upwards of 5.04 million USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin. The USDC was then spread across various wallets.
The price damage
The market did not wait for a full investigation. AXIS dropped approximately 40% within 24 hours of the report.
Zoom out further and the picture gets bleaker. The token had hit an all-time high of around $0.361 before sliding to approximately $0.14.
Axis Robotics pushes back
Axis Robotics disputes the insider framing. The project said no team or investor tokens had been sold.
Instead, the team attributed the sales to an over-the-counter (OTC) counterparty. According to Axis Robotics, that counterparty allegedly breached its lock-up agreement. The project says the buyer dumped the tokens shortly after acquiring them.
Axis Robotics also pointed to the structure of its token supply. The project said the majority of its holdings, 835 million AXIS, sit in a vesting contract managed jointly with Binance.
That vesting contract reportedly requires 4-of-6 signatures to move funds. In plain terms, four out of six designated keyholders must sign off before any tokens leave.
How the token is built
AXIS is an ERC-20 token on Base with a fixed supply of 1 billion. There is no inflation, so no new tokens will be minted beyond that cap.
At its token generation event, 165 million AXIS entered circulation. That represented 16.5% of total supply.
The remaining 835 million, or 83.5% of supply, is the portion Axis Robotics says is locked in the Binance co-administered vesting contract. The project’s tokenomics emphasize ecosystem growth and contributor rewards.
When only 16.5% of supply is circulating, a sale of more than 76 million tokens represents a large chunk of what is actually tradable.
The questions still hanging
The dispute centers on a gap between two accounts. ZachXBT’s findings trace the tokens to a team-controlled multisig. Axis Robotics says the sellers were an outside OTC buyer, not insiders.
That still leaves open why tokens sold under a lock-up were apparently free to trade within days. If the restriction existed only on paper, the buyer faced little technical friction in selling.
The episode has drawn fresh scrutiny of the project’s multisig setup and the integrity of its lock-up agreements.
What this means for AXIS holders and new launches
For current AXIS holders, the immediate concern is whether more selling is coming. Axis Robotics says the bulk of supply is locked behind a 4-of-6 multisig shared with Binance, which, if accurate, limits how much could hit the market quickly.
What to watch next: whether Axis Robotics names or pursues the OTC counterparty, whether it publishes the wallet addresses and terms behind the deal, and whether the vesting contract stays untouched. Until then, the on-chain trail ZachXBT surfaced is the most concrete evidence anyone has.
