Cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the recent trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. This move follows allegations by on-chain analyst ZachXBT, who claims that insiders deliberately 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 CEO Richard Teng also stated that the platform is looking into the matter and will examine signs of market misconduct. ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty for whistleblowers to come forward with evidence about the parties involved. 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 began to rise.
RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events, reported $3 million in revenue in 2025. The token's market behavior has been highly volatile, with its price jumping from $0.30 to over $6 in a single day, before reaching a peak of $27. At its peak, the token's market value briefly exceeded $6 billion, but it has since dropped by over 50%. Claims of a 'bait and liquidate' pattern have also emerged, suggesting that visible transfers may have been used to lure traders into short positions.
RaveDAO has addressed the situation, stating that the team is not responsible for the recent price action, but the project's connections to earlier crypto ventures have raised concerns. The team has announced plans to liquidate portions of unlocked tokens and explore models that tie team incentives to ecosystem growth.