Solana AI Token AVA Rocked by Insider Sniping, Price Crashes

Bubblemaps found 23 wallets tied to AVA's deployer acquired 40% of the supply at launch, leading to a 96% price drop and raising concerns about insider coordination and market fairness.

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps has uncovered that 23 wallets linked to the deployer of the Solana-based AI token Ava (AVA) acquired nearly 40% of the token's supply immediately after its launch on November 13, 2024. These wallets, funded through centralized exchanges like Bitget and Binance and showing no prior activity, acted in a coordinated manner using automated trading to snipe tokens at launch. This concentration of supply, achieved through what is known as 'launch sniping,' has raised concerns about market fairness and the risk of price manipulation. Despite AVA's public image as a community-driven project, the initial distribution left a single coordinated entity with significant control. Following the launch, AVA's price soared to a peak of $0.33 and a fully diluted valuation of $300 million, but subsequently plummeted by over 96%, now trading near $0.01. The incident has intensified scrutiny over token launch practices and the potential for insider-driven market distortions in the crypto sector.