Following allegations of insider-orchestrated price manipulation, major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. The probe was sparked by on-chain analyst ZachXBT, who claimed that insiders engineered 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 token's price surge led to over $44 million in liquidations, with nearly 90% of its supply concentrated in three Gnosis Safe wallets. Millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges before the price increase, raising suspicions of a 'bait and liquidate' scheme. RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events, has denied involvement in the price manipulation, stating that it plans to liquidate unlocked tokens 'when appropriate' and explore incentive models tied to ecosystem growth.