BUBBLEMAPS CALLS OUT CEXs: LAB TOKEN MANIPULATION EXPOSED
On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps has publicly urged centralized exchanges to investigate alleged price manipulation of the LAB token .
What Bubblemaps found:
🔴 Insiders control over 95% of LAB supply – extreme concentration in a small number of wallets
🔴 **$300M moved before the pump** – several wallets transferred 1.5% of LAB supply (approx $300M) to an entity labeled "Aster" immediately before a significant price surge
🔴 Holdings exploded – Address 0x1284 (Aster) saw holdings jump from 8 million to 22 million LAB tokens, involving over $200M in funds, right before the price spike
🔴 LAB market cap hit $20B – briefly entered top 20 by market cap before concerns emerged
The pattern is not new. Bubblemaps identified LAB as the latest in a series of manipulated assets, following similar suspicious behavior in RAVE, SKYAI, and PIPPIN .
Earlier warnings ignored: On-chain detective ZachXBT publicly pointed out two weeks ago that LAB supply is controlled by insiders, noting that CEXs allowed related market-making activity to continue. LAB then dropped 30%, and most thought it was over. But the manipulation resumed .
The bigger picture:
According to Moonrock Capital founder Simon Dedic, additional allegations against LAB include:
· Arbitrarily changing token vesting schedules
· Providing free tokens to exchanges to maintain listings
· Using a market maker previously tied to MOVE token manipulation
Why this matters:
Bubblemaps argues that exchanges have the tools to detect these patterns – large exchange inflows/outflows, abnormal on-chain movements before price changes, and extreme supply concentration. Their silence, the firm says, enables these practices to continue .
For retail investors, this means tokens like LAB can be artificially pumped and then dumped, leading to significant financial losses .
👇 Do you think exchanges will finally take action – or will manipulation continue?
$LAB $RAVE $SKYAI
#Bubblemaps #zachxbt #CryptoManipulation #CEX