On-chain investigator alleges RaveDAO leadership knows the identity behind the price manipulation of its cryptocurrency

The digital forensic expert pointed to «questionable» activity linked to centralized exchanges as the RAVE token’s valuation skyrocketed from $60 million to $6 billion before plummeting.

Key points to understand:

• Crypto detective ZachXBT claims the RaveDAO development group has at least a clear understanding of who orchestrated the 11,000% spike in the RAVE token’s value, which subsequently dropped by over 90%.
• He argues that on-chain connections between addresses linked to the RaveDAO team and questionable activity on centralized exchanges directly oppose the project’s public claims of non-involvement in the token’s extreme volatility.
• The RAVE token’s market cap reportedly expanded from approximately $60 million to $6 billion within nine days, only to shed roughly $5.7 billion over a 48-hour period, a scenario ZachXBT deems nearly impossible to happen naturally.

  Digital forensics expert ZachXBT stated on Sunday that the group behind RaveDAO is at least informed about who manipulated the price of its token, which experienced an unrealistic 11,000% price increase followed by a swift collapse.

  «I discovered questionable activity on centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) on April 26 linked to RaveDAO team addresses on-chain, which potentially conflicts with their recent public statements,» the blockchain researcher noted.

  In another post, ZachXBT highlighted a transaction from a RAVE address designated for «initial distribution» by RaveDAO, where approximately $23 million worth of tokens were moved to two Bitget deposit addresses, triggering a 40% price drop from $1 to $0.6.

  RaveDAO released a six-part thread on X on Saturday, previously covered 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 countered, «given the supply concentration, the team at minimum knows who is responsible for this price action.»

  In a separate post on X, the investigator added, «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.