Tellor’s 13-Hour Meteoric Rise and Fall Raises Manipulation Suspicions

Last updated: January 1, 2024 21:26 EST . 1 min read Disclosure: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. By using this website, you agree to our terms and conditions. We may utilise affiliate links within our content, and receive commission.

Source: Adobe / neo

A small-cap altcoin known as Tellor (TRB) experienced a 150 surge to a new all-time high above $600, only to witness a crash that erased all the gains within just hours on December 31, sparking suspicions of price manipulation.

Citing blockchain data from Etherscan, the on-chain analysts behind the X account Lookonchain said the Tellor team transferred 4,211 TRB, valued at approximately $2.4 million during the surge, to a wallet labelled as belonging to Coinbase at around 8:41 pm UTC.

The timing aligned almost perfectly with the high during the price pump, adding to suspicions of market manipulation.

In the past 24 hours, $TRB soared to $600 and then plummeted to $137, causing $68M of assets to be liquidated, making it the most liquidated token.

We noticed that the #Tellor team deposited 4,211 $TRB($2.4M) after the price of $TRB skyrocketed.

Address:https://t.co/efHPXCiMiG pic.twitter.com/IBty2Wf2gI

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 1, 2024

The sudden drop in Tellor’s price resulted in over $68 million in liquidations, according to CoinGlass data cited by Lookonchain on January 1.

TRB token liquidations. Source: Lookonchain/X

Concentrated TRB supply

On-chain analytics firm Spot on Chain also noted on X that 26 of the circulating supply of TRB was held by just 20 large wallets.

According to the firm, these wallets accumulated the token at a price of around $15, and the price has since then risen by around 15x.

“Over the past two months, the whales have slowly deposited their tokens onto exchanges, creating a pump-and-dump cycle to liquidate their holdings,” the post added.