Following allegations of insider-orchestrated manipulation, major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitget have initiated investigations into the trading activity surrounding RaveDAO's RAVE token. The probe was sparked by on-chain analyst ZachXBT, who 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.
ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty for whistleblowers to come forward with evidence. The RAVE token's price surged by 4,500% over a week, leading to over $44 million in liquidations, primarily bearish positions. Notably, nearly 90% of the token's supply was concentrated in three Gnosis Safe wallets, and millions of tokens were transferred to exchanges before the price began to rise.
RaveDAO, a Web3 project focused on electronic music events, has reported $3 million in revenue in 2025. The token's market behavior has been volatile, with its value briefly exceeding $6 billion before dropping.
Claims of a 'bait and liquidate' pattern have also emerged, suggesting that visible transfers may be used to lure traders into short positions, only to withdraw tokens and drive prices higher. RaveDAO has denied involvement in the price manipulation, stating that it plans to liquidate portions of unlocked tokens 'when appropriate' and is exploring models to tie team incentives to ecosystem growth.