- A single entity used 2,418 addresses to corner $RIVER, generating huge profits and dominating the market.
- Major withdrawals from Bitget fueled a 15X token surge, putting retail traders at risk of losses.
- Centralized exchanges like Bitget and Binance face scrutiny for enabling market manipulation schemes.
A single entity reportedly cornered most of the $RIVER token supply, generating over $300 million in profits. According to Wazz, a crypto researcher, this operation involved 2,418 addresses orchestrated through Bitget, one of the major crypto exchanges.
The scheme allegedly began with a wallet funded by 8 BNB from OKX. From there, the operator used a distribution contract called Multicall3 to send BNB to 362 addresses. This clever strategy hid incoming transactions on most blockchain explorers, making the initial accumulation nearly invisible.
Moreover, Wazz highlighted that these recipients formed a nine-hop chain, totaling 2,418 addresses. The chain funneled $RIVER tokens into specific wallets. Significant withdrawals occurred on December 5 and December 29, with two million and one million tokens taken from Bitget respectively.
At an average price of $4.12 per token, these moves represented $22 million initially. However, at $RIVER’s peak, the accumulated tokens would have yielded an approximate $350 million profit. Consequently, nearly half of the circulating supply ended up controlled by this single entity.
Market Impact and Risks for Traders
Brain, another analyst, called the operation “a sophisticated industrial-scale wash trading or supply cornering operation.” He emphasized that controlling 2,418 addresses gives a single party enormous market influence. “If they controlled the float during the pump from sub-cent levels to recent peaks, a $300M profit is entirely possible on paper,” he said. Additionally, RIVER has faced continuous negative funding rates, suggesting heavy short liquidations fueled the price surge.
Retail traders face significant risks as a result. When one entity dominates supply, they effectively become the market. Brain warned, “Unless you were in during the accumulation phase below $0.01, you’re just providing the exit liquidity for that $300M.” The recent 37% drop in RIVER’s price reflects the entity beginning to unload its holdings. Consequently, the remaining addresses are expected to continue unwinding, potentially causing further downside.
Wazz and Brain both criticized Bitget for facilitating or ignoring these manipulative practices. Wazz added, “Binance and co are also comfortable taking in fee money for perps and liquidating their users gambling on this.” Hence, the RIVER incident underscores growing concerns about centralized exchanges enabling market manipulation.
