Major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the recent trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token, following allegations by on-chain analyst ZachXBT that insiders manipulated the market, resulting in a significant short squeeze. The token's value skyrocketed by 4,500% in a week, leading to the liquidation of over $44 million in bearish positions. Notably, nearly 90% of RAVE's supply was concentrated in three Gnosis Safe wallets, and millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges before the price surge began.
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 'appropriate models' for locking team incentives to ecosystem growth, but has not committed to a specific mechanism or timeline.