Author: Twitter blogger Mosi

Translated by: Tim, PANews

This article represents only the author's views and does not constitute investment advice.

In the crypto, perception is everything. As Plato's cave allegory reveals, many investors are like prisoners trapped in cave shadows - misled by false values deliberately distorted by bad actors. This article will deeply expose how VC-backed project teams systematically implement manipulation techniques to pave the way for token price control:

• Maximize their token's "fake circulation volume".
• Minimize the token's "real circulation volume" (helping them pump).
• Use the fact of extremely small real circulation volume to hype the coin price.
• Shift from the low circulation volume/high FDV trend to a new trend of fake circulation volume/high FDV

No no no! We are not a low circulation volume/high FDV token, we are a "community-first" token!

Earlier this year, meme-based meme coins saw a surge in popularity, making traditional VC tokens pale in comparison. These tokens, dubbed by the market as "low circulation volume/high FDV", have become unworthy investment targets with the launch of the new derivative exchange Hyperliquid. Unfortunately, some project teams have not addressed the fundamental flaws in their token economics, nor have they focused on developing products with actual value. Instead, they have increasingly artificially suppressed circulation volume, contrary to their public claims.

24.5 billion MOVE (self-reported circulating supply) - 10 billion MOVE (foundation allocation) - 941 million MOVE (unclaimed supply) = 509 million MOVE or $203 million actual circulating market value

The actual circulation is only 20% of the reported data, and I find it hard to believe that all 509 million circulating MOVE tokens are in users' hands, but let's temporarily assume this data is the real circulation.

What happened during this period with extremely low actual circulation?

• Movement paid WLFI to purchase their own tokens
• Movement paid fees to REX-Osprey institution to submit a MOVE token ETF application
• Rushi went to the New York Stock Exchange for negotiations
• Movement conducted illegal operations through funds and market makers, selling locked tokens for cash to manipulate market prices
• The project team deposited 150 million MOVE tokens on Bybit exchange at its highest price point. They might have started selling at the price peak, as the token price has been falling since then

Around the TGE, the team paid $700,000 monthly to Chinese KOL marketing agencies to obtain Binance listing qualifications and find buyers in the Asian market.

As Rushi often says:

3、Kaito

Kaito is the only project on this list with a real product. However, their current airdrop activity also involves similar behaviors.

As CBB pointed out, Kaito distributed their airdrop, but only a small portion was claimed. This also affects the actual circulation, let's calculate:

According to Coinmarketcap data, Kaito's circulating supply is 241 million tokens (corresponding to a market value of $314 million). I speculate this number already includes: holdings of Binance exchange, liquidity incentive tokens, foundation-allocated tokens, and initial community shares and claimable tokens.

Let's analyze step by step to find the real circulation:

Actual circulation = 241 million KAITO - 68 million (unclaimed tokens) - 100 million (foundation tokens) = 73 million KAITO

The actual market value is equivalent to $94.9 million, far lower than the data reported by CoinMarketCap (CMC).

In this list, only Kaito is worthy of my trust, as they at least have a product that can generate revenue, and to my knowledge, their team has not engaged in as many unsavory behaviors as the other two teams.

Solutions and Conclusion

CMC and Coingecko should display the real token circulation, not the random data submitted by teams.

Exchanges like Binance should actively take measures to punish such behaviors. The current listing model has loopholes, where projects only need to pay KOL marketing agencies before TGE to artificially boost Asian market enthusiasm, just as Movement did.

The prices may have changed since I wrote this article, but for reference, I used the following data: Move at $0.4, KAITO at $1.3, and Mantra at $6.

If you are a trader, please stay away from these tokens, as the project teams can manipulate prices at will. They control all circulation, and thus control the token's liquidity and price (this is not investment advice).