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ToggleIn the cryptocurrency market, a "specter behemoth" with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of tens of billions of dollars has resurfaced, and this time, the on-chain detective has laid bare its secrets.
Renowned on-chain investigator ZachXBT recently released a groundbreaking long-form investigative report on the community platform X, directly targeting the crypto project $LAB (LABtrade_), which has recently experienced a price surge and whose FDV has soared to an astonishing $60 billion .
He criticized the project for being rife with opaque backroom deals and exposed how founders Vova Sadkov and Mark ruthlessly exploited retail investors through insider trading and over-the-counter (OTC) transactions.
Internal control exceeded 95%, and the lock-up period for retail investors was unilaterally altered.
ZachXBT points out that the LAB project has been shrouded in mystery from the very beginning. Although it has the backing of well-known institutions and exchanges such as Lemniscap, OKX, Animoca, and GSR, the team has never disclosed clear details of token distribution to the public, leading to serious discrepancies in the circulating supply shown on data platforms such as CoinGecko and CMC.
Through in-depth on-chain data analysis, ZachXBT revealed a shocking fact: more than 95% of the LAB token supply is currently controlled by insiders.
Relying on their overwhelming chip advantage, the team began to act recklessly. ZachXBT attached screenshots of user emails as irrefutable evidence, pointing out that the team unilaterally extended the vesting period for Legion public sale participants from the originally promised 3 months to 9 months ; at the same time, many marketing activities that assisted in promotion were also inexplicably delayed for several months.
Money laundering through private loans; 20% off OTC goods resold to KOLs for protection.
The report further exposed the extremely egregious financial manipulation methods employed by the LAB team:
- High-interest private loans: The team offered private loans with interest rates as high as "7.5% per month" through a shell company in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) signed by Vova. The terms stipulated that in case of default, repayment would be made in LAB tokens at the "market price". ZachXBT's investigation revealed that these lending wallets were not only linked to publicly traded buyback addresses, but the funds ultimately flowed to Vova's personal Bybit and Gate exchange accounts.
- KOLs used as a cover for dumping: Another founder, Mark, was caught searching for OTC buyers on Telegram. He not only offered discounts ranging from 60% to a guaranteed 25%, but recently even offered certain KOLs an extremely low price of 80% off (i.e., 20% off) , on the condition that they "post to support LAB," or he would block them. This essentially created a "hidden unlock" that retail investors couldn't see, allowing KOLs to happily dump their holdings.
Are Chinese market makers manipulating the market? ZachXBT warns: Never short short.
ZachXBT's investigation also revealed that some of the multisignature wallet signers for LAB were linked to the infamous RIVER manipulation case. Recently, insiders deposited hundreds of millions of LAB into the major trading platform Bitget, followed by a large withdrawal of nearly 100 million LAB (worth approximately $482 million). ZachXBT suspects that this was orchestrated by Chinese market makers (MMs), using methods identical to those employed in past RIVER and RAVE pump-and-dump schemes. ZachXBT strongly criticizes this.
"Retail investors are always the last to know the truth. Teams, market makers, and OTC buyers all have insider information."
In response, ZachXBT publicly called on exchanges such as Bitget, Binance, and Gate to immediately freeze insider profits or delist the token, and offered a $10,000 reward for further information. However, he issued a strong warning at the end of his post: this is absolutely not a suggestion to short LAB . Due to the highly concentrated holdings, if a large number of retail investors short, the major insiders are highly likely to use their 95% holdings to launch a malicious short squeeze, turning short into fuel for their price manipulation and profit-taking.
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