Observers raise manipulation suspicions as RAVE rides wave to token all-time high

RAVE showed a risky side of tokens, as it broke out in a record short squeeze. RAVE peaked above $9.20, as Binance trading liquidated short positions. 

RAVE revealed the risks of betting on the downside of tokens. The project, which launched its token at the end of 2025, was underperforming, driven by the general weakness of crypto markets. As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, RAVE was just emerging, with a Coinbase listing in February.

For months, RAVE hovered around $0.25, but in the past day peaked at $9.79, gaining over 224% in the past day. However, the token was not habitually shorted, with most of the liquidated positions opened in the past week.

$RAVE went up from $0.2 to $2 in 3 weeks

800% pump with no clear catalyst in this bear market

What's actually going on:

• Rave is the token of RaveDAO, which hosts crypto parties

• There is no major annoucement during the pump

• On-chain activity looks manipulated

•… pic.twitter.com/af18fSba56

— jussy (@jussy_world) April 11, 2026

RAVE broke out over the weekend, with the latest leg of the rally on April 13. The price spike to a much higher price range put RAVE among the top liquidations for the past day, even surpassing ETH. 

RAVE caused $37.63M in short liquidations in the past day, sparking discontent among the crypto community. 

RAVE open interest increased suddenly

RAVE trading is mostly concentrated on GATE and other centralized exchanges. At the same time, futures on Binance suddenly increased their open interest. 

The increased futures bets started from April 6, showing the current short squeeze was almost a week in preparation. 

According to the liquidation heatmap, the rally above $9 wiped out all short positions. After that, the price started to retreat, down to $8.67. The rapid price action and sudden peak volumes have led to suggestions of manipulation. 

Unlike other tokens, the RAVE short open interest appeared suddenly. Open interest increased by 76% in the past day, with the bulk of positions on Binance and OKX. 

According to analysts, the open interest on Binance and BingX had the most suspicious growth and was probably not organic. Recent data suggests up to 50% of open interest may be manipulated. 

RAVE has not attracted shorting from retail traders, who have seen other tokens cause short squeezes. Instead, RAVE traders reportedly built up long positions to entice whales and professional traders to attempt shorting RAVE.

In the end, the operation succeeded, and RAVE posted price records for three days, squeezing out short traders. 

RAVE is controlled by the team

One of the major risks for RAVE is the highly controlled supply. The top 10 wallets hold 98.16% of all tokens. Any retail holders control just 1.83% of the supply, corresponding with the generally low interest in new assets. 

The top RAVE wallet holds over 42% of all tokens, and the second-biggest, another 23%. The presence of large whales also makes the token suspicious for manipulation at scale. The sudden price rally may allow some of the holders to cash out quickly, avoiding the worst of a bear market. 

RAVE was popular on social media, though reception was muted due to the bear market. The project’s mindshare actually fell by over 14% just before the rally, which may have turned out to be a rug pull between whales and professional traders. 

There’s a middle ground between leaving money in the bank and rolling the dice in crypto. Start with this free video on decentralized finance.