Cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token, following allegations by on-chain analyst ZachXBT that insiders manipulated the market to drive the token's rapid price surge. The probe comes after ZachXBT claimed that millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges before the price increase, with nearly 90% of the token's supply concentrated in just three wallets. Binance CEO Richard Teng and Bitget CEO Gracy Chen have both confirmed that their respective platforms are looking into the matter. Meanwhile, ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty to whistleblowers who can provide evidence about the parties involved.
The sudden surge in the token's price led to over $44 million in liquidations, with the token's value briefly exceeding $6 billion before receding. 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 has announced plans to explore new token lock models to tie team incentives to ecosystem growth, but has not committed to a specific mechanism or timeline.