Major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated an investigation into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token, following allegations by on-chain analyst ZachXBT that insiders manipulated the market, resulting in a massive short squeeze. The token's value surged by 4,500% in a week, leading to the liquidation of over $44 million in bearish positions. Notably, nearly 90% of the token's supply was held in just three Gnosis Safe wallets, and millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges shortly before the price increase. RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events and blockchain-based ticketing, has denied any involvement in the price manipulation, stating that it is 'not engaged in, nor responsible for, recent price action.' The project has announced plans to explore new token lock models to tie team incentives to ecosystem growth, but has not committed to a specific mechanism or timeline.
The investigation has also led to a $10,000 bounty being offered by ZachXBT for whistleblowers to come forward with evidence about the parties involved.