Following allegations of a potentially orchestrated short squeeze, major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. The claims, made by on-chain analyst ZachXBT, suggest that insiders may have manipulated the market, leading to a rapid price increase. In response, Bitget's CEO, Gracy Chen, and Binance's CEO, Richard Teng, have publicly stated that their respective platforms are looking into the matter. Additionally, ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty for any whistleblowers who can provide evidence of the alleged manipulation.
The RAVE token's price surged by 4,500% over the course of a week, resulting in over $44 million in liquidated positions, primarily due to bearish bets. Notably, nearly 90% of the token's supply was concentrated in just three Gnosis Safe wallets at the time, and millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges shortly before the price increase. RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events, has denied any involvement in the alleged price manipulation, stating that it is 'not engaged in, nor responsible for, recent price action.' The project has also announced plans to explore 'appropriate models' for locking team incentives, potentially tied to ecosystem growth, but has not committed to a specific mechanism or timeline.