Binance and Bitget, two main cryptocurrency exchanges, have opened investigations into buying and selling exercise surrounding RaveDAO’s RAVE token, after onchain sleuth ZachXBT alleged insiders engineered a big brief squeeze that drove the token’s speedy rise.
Crypto change Bitget’s CEO Gracy Chen stated the change had “began investigating” the matter, whereas Binance CEO Richard Teng later stated publicly that the platform was additionally wanting into the claims and would “all the time” do its half to look at indicators of market misconduct. One other change, Gate, was additionally talked about in ZachXBT’s investigation.
ZachXBT has additionally personally supplied a $10,000 bounty to whistleblowers who come ahead privately to share proof concerning the events concerned.
The little-known mission rallied earlier within the week, resulting in over $44 million in RAVE positions, most of which had been bearish, getting liquidated in a single day. These liquidations adopted a 4,500% rally over the course of per week.
Nonetheless, the brief squeeze highlighted the focus of RAVE tokens inside a small set of wallets. In truth, practically 90% of its provide was in simply three Gnosis Secure wallets on the time.
Investigators additionally flagged token transfers to exchanges shortly earlier than the rally started. Hundreds of thousands of tokens had been moved to exchanges earlier than costs began surging.
RaveDAO presents itself as a Web3 mission targeted on digital music occasions, providing blockchain-based ticketing and group governance. It traces its origins to a 2023 afterparty in Istanbul and has since hosted occasions throughout a number of areas. The mission reported about $3 million in income in 2025.
That footprint contrasts with the token’s market conduct. RAVE traded beneath $0.50 for many of its historical past earlier than surging in April. It jumped from about $0.30 to over $6 in a single day, then climbed previous $27 earlier than beginning to recede.
At its peak, the token’s market worth briefly exceeded $6 billion, inserting it among the many largest cryptocurrencies by market cap earlier than dropping. The token is now down greater than 50% from its peak and 30% during the last 24 hours.
‘Bait and liquidate’
A separate declare facilities on what some describe as a “bait and liquidate” sample. The thought is that seen transfers recommend promoting strain, drawing merchants into brief positions.
If these tokens are later withdrawn whereas costs rise, brief sellers could also be compelled to purchase again at increased costs, driving additional positive factors for these on the opposite aspect of the commerce. These claims stay unproven, however the focus of provide suggests it’s an actual chance.
Neighborhood stories have additionally linked the mission to figures related to earlier crypto ventures, together with ARPA and Bella Protocol, although these connections haven’t been independently verified. Not one of the people named in these stories has responded publicly.
RaveDAO addressed the state of affairs in a social media thread, stating that the group is “not engaged in, nor chargeable for, latest worth motion.”
Within the thread, RaveDAO didn’t tackle particular onchain allegations, together with provide focus or the thousands and thousands transferred to exchanges forward of the pump, however confirmed it does plan to liquidate parts of unlocked tokens “when applicable.”
RaveDAO stated it was “exploring applicable fashions, together with price-triggered or performance-triggered locks, that tie group incentives to ecosystem progress.” It stopped in need of committing to any particular mechanism or timeline.
CoinDesk has reached out to RaveDAO for feedback.
