Blockchain sleuth accuses RaveDAO of knowing who manipulated the price of its token

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Blockchain sleuth accuses RaveDAO of knowing who manipulated the price of its token The on-chain sleuth cited "suspicious" exchange-linked activity as RAVE swung from $60 million in market capitalization to $6 billion and back. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Nikhilesh De Apr 20, 2026, 3:16 p.m. Make preferred on ZachXBT suggested there's no way the RaveDAO team does at least know who manipulated the price of its token. (Adam Śmigielski/Unsplash) What to know : Blockchain investigator ZachXBT alleges that the RaveDAO team is at least aware of who manipulated its RAVE token, which surged 11,000% before crashing more than 90%. He says on-chain links between RaveDAO team addresses and suspicious centralized exchange activity contradict the project’s public denials of involvement in the token’s extreme price action. The RAVE token’s market value reportedly jumped from about $60 million to $6 billion in nine days before losing roughly $5.7 billion in 48 hours, which ZachXBT calls highly unlikely to have occurred organically. Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT wrote on Sunday that the team behind RaveDAO is at least aware of who manipulated the price of its token, which saw an impossible 11,000% surge in price followed by a near immediate collapse. “I found suspicious CEX (centralized crypto exchanges) activity on April 26 tied to RaveDAO team addresses onchain, which potentially contradicts their recent statements,” the blockchain investigator said. In a separate post, ZachXBT flagged a transfer from a RAVE address used for “initial distribution” by RaveDAO from which roughly $23 million worth of tokens were transferred to two Bitget deposit addresses causing the price to drop 40% from $1 to $0.6. RaveDAO posted a six-part X thread on Saturday , previously reported by CoinDesk , stating “we are aware of the rumors and accusations circulating regarding $RAVE and the RaveDAO team. We want to be clear: RaveDAO team is not engaged in, nor responsible for, recent price action.” However, ZachXBT said, “given the supply concentration, the team at minimum knows who is responsible for this price action.” In a separate X post, the investigator said, “you expect the community to believe RAVE went $60M -> $6B mkt cap organically in nine days with little to no utility? Considering your team handled the initial distribution with a low float it’s unlikely you do not know the party responsible for it.” The RaveDAO token, which increased by nearly 11,000% in nine days from about $0.25 to $27.33, then plunged by over 90%, losing roughly $5.7 billion in market capitalization in just 48 hours. Its price currently hovers around $0.67. The sleuth also said RAVE is not the only token with manipulation “we have seen on major centralized exchanges. It's just the most blatant.” He also said it was highly unlikely the CEXs did not spot the massive $RAVE token price movements. More For You UK gas-investment firm weighs bitcoin mining, draws criticism By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Sheldon Reback 3 minutes ago Reabold Resources' gas field is so large it could theoretically mine 50,000 BTC, local media said. The firm said it will test bitcoin mining before pivoting to data centers. What to know : Reabold Resources is considering a pilot gas-powered bitcoin mining station at its West Newton A well site in northern England to showcase how its gas reserves could fuel future data centers. The company says bitcoin mining would initially help finance further development of the large onshore gas field and serve... Read full story Latest Crypto News UK gas-investment firm weighs bitcoin mining, draws criticism 3 minutes ago U.S. crypto adoption is rebounding, bitcoin still dominates, Deutsche Bank says 14 minutes ago Kelp DAO claims LayerZero’s 'default' settings are what actually caused the massive $290 million disaster 45 minutes ago Global stablecoin rulemaking slows, prompting BIS to urge cooperation to avoid fragmentation risks 54 minutes ago Tether backs UAE tokenization firm KAIO in $8M funding round to bring Emirati funds onchain 1 hour ago Coinbase, Bybit said to be working together on tokenization, custody and distribution of U.S. stocks 1 hour ago Top Stories Strategy buys 34,164 bitcoin for $2.54 billion, third-largest purchase on record 3 hours ago Here's how bitcoin's $7.9 billion April options expiry impact prices 5 hours ago LayerZero blames Kelp's setup for $290 million exploit, attributes it to North Korea's Lazarus 10 hours ago 'DeFi is dead': crypto community scrambles after this year's biggest hack exposes contagion risk 21 hours ago A $300 million borrowing spike on Aave signals liquidity crunch after KelpDAO exploit 5 hours ago Previewing Consensus' Policy Summit: State of Crypto 20 hours ago