ZachXBT, one of crypto's most trusted on-chain investigators, has exposed a textbook pump and dump involving the RAVE token on Bitget, Binance, and Gate exchanges. According to his findings, insiders controlled over 90% of the token supply and orchestrated a coordinated extraction from retail investors. He called on Binance co-founder He Yi and Bitget CEO Gracy Chen to launch internal investigations and offload the responsible parties. ZachXBT also offered a $10,000 personal bounty for whistleblowers.
How the Manipulation Worked: Pre-Deposit Then Withdraw, Short Squeeze Delivered 5,500% Gain
The setup was deliberate. Wallets linked to the RaveDAO deployer moved 18.58 million RAVE tokens to Bitget before any price pump — with no announcement or disclosure. At that time, the price sat below $0.50. Ten hours later, the rally began. With 74% of traders on Binance holding short positions, insiders withdrew 29.78 million tokens from Bitget, effectively draining exchange selling pressure. The resulting short squeeze sent RAVE from $0.27 to over $14 in seven days, a gain of more than 5,500%. ZachXBT had reached out to RaveDAO's co-founder privately before the public expose, but was left on read.
Red Flags: Top 10 Wallets Hold 98% Supply, Only 24% in Circulation
Intergovernmental Blockchain Advisor Anndy Lian had flagged clear warning signs. The top 10 wallets hold 98.16% of total supply. Only 24-25% of the one billion token supply is in circulation. The fully diluted valuation sits at roughly four times the current market cap — a ratio that historically precedes 40-60% retracements. There is no public codebase and no completed security audit. The project's backer list is striking: World Liberty Financial, Warner Music Group, Tomorrowland, and YZi Labs, a Web3 incubator with former Binance staff. None of that changes what the on-chain data shows.
"We cannot allow this blatant market manipulation by insiders controlling more than 90% RAVE support to further extract from retail investors," ZachXBT wrote.
Exchange Response: Bitget Confirms Investigation, Binance and Gate Silent
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen responded quickly on social media: "Thanks for highlighting! We've started investigating into $RAVE." Bitget has confirmed its investigation is underway. Binance and Gate have not yet responded publicly.