Following allegations of a manipulated price rally, major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. The claims, brought forth by on-chain analyst ZachXBT, suggest that insiders orchestrated a significant short squeeze, resulting in the token's rapid appreciation.
Bitget's CEO, Gracy Chen, confirmed the exchange's investigation, while Binance's CEO, Richard Teng, stated that the platform would examine signs of market misconduct. ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty for whistleblowers to come forward with evidence.
The RAVE token's price surge led to over $44 million in liquidations, with nearly 90% of the token's supply concentrated in three Gnosis Safe wallets. Millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges before the price increase, sparking suspicions of a 'bait and liquidate' scheme. RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events, has denied any involvement in the price manipulation, stating that the team is 'not engaged in, nor responsible for, recent price action.' The project plans to liquidate portions of unlocked tokens and is exploring incentive models tied to ecosystem growth.