Allegations of Altcoin Price Manipulation Emerge Amidst Market Declines
Following sharp declines in Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins throughout October, a significant collapse occurred in the last 24 hours. Amidst increasing bearish sentiment, allegations of manipulation have surfaced concerning several altcoins.
BTX Capital and Founder Accused of Market Manipulation
Crypto analyst Specter has claimed that BTX Capital and its founder, Vanessa Cao, may have been involved in the price manipulation of multiple altcoins, including POPCAT and TST, on the Hyperliquid platform.
Specter alleges that Cao artificially manipulated the price of POPCAT. This alleged manipulation involved creating a substantial buy wall of approximately $25 million, which was subsequently withdrawn. This action is said to have triggered liquidations and led to the sudden closure of positions for highly leveraged investors, resulting in a loss of approximately $4.9 million in HLP.
According to data revealed by the analyst, Cao and associated attackers reportedly created a buy order wall for POPCAT on November 12th. This wall, valued at approximately $25 million and set at $0.21, was intended to simulate strong demand for the token. These orders were later rescinded, leading to significant liquidations. The data indicates collateral losses of $4 million for the attackers and $4.9 million for HLP as a direct result of these actions.
The analysis identified twenty-six wallets involved in the POPCAT price manipulation. These wallets showed connections to OKX and previous manipulations of the TST token. Furthermore, some of these addresses were directly linked to BTX Capital's official wallet and Vanessa Cao's public wallet, identified as vanessacao.eth.
Analyst Specter also suggested that the perpetrators may have sought to mitigate their losses by engaging in short-selling the token on centralized exchanges.
Specter further indicated that BTX Capital is suspected of manipulating other tokens that have exhibited unusual price movements. These potentially manipulated tokens include ZEREBRO, JELLYJELLY, ZEC, and HIFI.