Over the last two weeks, RaveDao (RAVE) burst into the crypto scene in a rapid price surge and a trajectory that led many in the community to call it a blatant market manipulation from insiders. In less than two weeks, the RAVE price had risen by more than 5,000%, with its fully diluted value reaching $20 billion and placing it in the top 20 coins by market cap as a result.
At its peak, the RAVE trajectory drew attention and backlash from the community when it was found out that around 90% of the total supply was being controlled by insider wallets. This allowed for the manipulation, and popular on-chain investigator ZachXBT got on the case.
ZachXBT exposed the scheme, calling on crypto exchanges Binance, Bitget, and Gate to actually investigate the coin. In addition, the on-chain investigation shared a bounty for any information on the insiders behind the token’s price manipulation, offering up to $25,000 in crypto in return. This move quickly toppled the whole scheme like a house made of straws, and in a matter of hours, the RAVE price fell by over 90% in one day.
During the course of the investigation, representatives from exchanges such as Bitget, Binance, and Gate had agreed to investigate the price action. So, ZachXBT took this time to call out other cryptocurrencies that have actually followed the same trajectory in recent times.
Other Cryptos That Have Performed Similarly To RAVE
Prior to the RAVE market manipulation, other cryptocurrencies have come before it, where there have been clear signs of market manipulation. One of the most popular of these is the RIVER move, which saw the price go from around $1 to almost $90 at its peak. Just like RAVE, this move happened in the course of weeks as market makers squeezed the price upwards.
Other examples of such a move include PIPPIN, a meme coin that seemingly came out of obscurity to rise by over 2,000%. Similar manipulations were also noted with other crypto coins such as SIREN, MYX, COAI, and MemeCore (M). One thing that all of these crypto coins have in common is that they all rose rapidly in a matter of weeks without a clear catalyst.
Given this, ZachXBT has called on crypto exchanges to intervene faster in cases of market manipulation. This is because any delay would cause unfathomable losses to traders while the crypto exchanges collect on the fees. “While it’s good the exchanges responded, I find it unlikely this activity wasn’t spotted internally before I raised it publicly,” the investigator said.
For now, ZachXBT says that the $25,000 bounty is still open as there hasn’t been any verifiable information provided in regard to the actors behind the RAVE manipulation. Thus, he continues to urge anyone with solid information behind the scheme to come forward.
