The RAVE token, native to the RaveDAO protocol, starred in one of the most extreme movements in the cryptocurrency market recently. After an explosive rise that raised its market capitalization more than 100 times in just 11 days (between April 7 and 18, 2026), this same Saturday the 18th, the price collapsed 96% in just 24 hours, generating strong suspicions of manipulation.
The following graph shows how RAVE price has moved from December 12, 2026 to the time of this publication:
According to public complaints presented by the researcher on-chain known on social network X as ZachXBT, andThe increase did not respond to an organic interest of the market, but to an alleged scheme of pump and dump (artificial inflation and subsequent massive sale).
RAVE, which went from a capitalization of approximately 60 million dollars to almost 6 billion dollars in less than two weeks, fell from about $26 per token to about $1 in less than a daywith only $52 million in settlements during those 24 hours.
This token was launched on December 12, 2025 via Binance Alpha and other exchanges with a total supply of 1 billion units. Distribution is the first factor that raises doubts. According to data on-chain, 95% of the supply was concentrated in only nine wallet addresses after initial distribution.
While part of the enthusiasm that accelerated RAVE’s rise was attributed to the promotion of a concert by DJ and producer Rose Ringed in Hong Kong, organized in collaboration with RaveDAO, ZachXBT believes that the token no use and affirms that the rise would be linked to market manipulation.
The collapse was even more abrupt than the rise. According to ZachXBT, the most striking thing is that a capitalization of USD 6 billion was erased with just USD 52 million in liquidations in leveraged positions. If these liquidations had exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars, a reaction like the one seen would be more logical.
This extreme disproportion is considered by the aforementioned researcher as a clear indication that the price did not reflect real demand, but rather an artificially inflated bubble.
RaveDAO published a official statement via his X account in which he denies any team responsibility for the price action, insisting that his focus remains mass adoption of Web3 through live events.
For their part, the Major trading platforms involved reacted quickly. Directors of Binance and Bitget They confirmed that they began internal investigations into possible market abuses.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that ZachXBT is offering a reward of USD 25,000 to anyone who shares verifiable evidence of market manipulation in this particular case.