RAVE Token Value Plummets 90% in One Day Amid Exchange Investigations

A staggering $5.7 billion in market capitalization was wiped out in just 48 hours, with three wallets and one denial at the center of the controversy. The RAVE token's value crashed by 90% over 24 hours after Binance and Bitget launched investigations into suspicious trading activity that had driven the token's market cap to $6 billion the previous week. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen and Binance co-CEO Richard Teng confirmed the probes, with Teng stating that the exchange would examine signs of market misconduct. Gate.io was also implicated in the allegations made by onchain investigator ZachXBT, who is offering a $25,000 bounty for whistleblowers. Despite RaveDAO's denial of any wrongdoing, the token's value continued to plummet. The project posted a statement on X, claiming it was not responsible for the recent price action, but failed to address specific allegations, including the concentration of 90% of the RAVE supply in three Gnosis Safe multi-signature wallets attributed to the team. The original rally had seen the token's value surge from $0.25 to $27.33 in just nine days, resulting in $44 million in liquidations on Friday. Investigators have flagged a 'bait and liquidate' pattern, in which token transfers to exchanges were used to lure traders into short positions before the tokens were withdrawn and prices rose, forcing shorts to cover at a loss. RaveDAO, a Web3 entertainment platform, reported $3 million in revenue in 2025 and has partnerships with several major exchanges and Polygon. The project has announced plans to liquidate portions of unlocked tokens to fund operations and marketing, but has not committed to a specific lockup mechanism or timeline.