RaveDAO has denied any involvement in the sharp rise and sudden collapse of its RAVE token, as major exchanges begin reviewing trading activity following allegations of market manipulation.
In a post on X, the project said it was “not engaged in, nor responsible for, recent price action.” The statement comes after the RAVE token surged from around $0.25 to nearly $28 within a few days, before dropping more than 80% shortly after.
The controversy intensified after on-chain investigator ZachXBT accused the project of running a pump-and-dump scheme. He pointed to concentrated token ownership and unusual exchange flows, claiming that more than 90% of the supply may be controlled by insiders.
Binance CEO Richard Teng said the exchange is looking into the matter, while Bitget CEO Gracy Chen stated that an investigation has already started.
RaveDAO outlines funding plans amid scrutiny
Under mounting pressure RaveDAO announced its intention to sell part of its unlocked tokens which will provide funding for operational needs and marketing efforts and staff recruitment. The team is investigating price-based and performance-based lock mechanisms to create better systems which will help them achieve their long-term objectives.
The project stated that it needs resources to build a movement which it will develop through sustainable methods that maintain transparent operations. RaveDAO operates as a Web3 entertainment platform which combines electronic music events and blockchain technology. The platform enables users to enter the crypto market through physical events at festivals where they receive NFTs and use RAVE token for access and governance and ticketing functions.
RAVE currently trades at approximately $1.36 which represents a 95% decrease during the last 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap data. The incident occurs during a wider period of security and market problems which affect the entire crypto industry. April witnessed major security breaches across multiple DeFi platforms with Drift Protocol among the affected systems which show ongoing vulnerabilities in their technical frameworks and their trading operations.