Following allegations of insider-orchestrated market manipulation, top cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. The probe comes after on-chain analyst ZachXBT claimed that insiders engineered a large short squeeze, resulting in the token's rapid price increase. 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. Additionally, ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty for whistleblowers to come forward with evidence.
The RAVE token's price surged 4,500% over a week, leading 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 surge, raising 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 it 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.