Major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the recent trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. This follows allegations by on-chain analyst ZachXBT, who claims that insiders orchestrated a large short squeeze, resulting in the token's rapid price surge.
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 about the parties involved.
The RAVE 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.
RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events, has reported $3 million in revenue in 2025. The token's market behavior has raised concerns, with some claiming a 'bait and liquidate' pattern. RaveDAO has denied involvement in the price surge, stating that it plans to liquidate portions of unlocked tokens 'when appropriate.' The project is exploring models to tie team incentives to ecosystem growth, but has not committed to a specific mechanism or timeline.