Allegations Alameda Research Is Manipulating $WAVES Shut Down As ‘Bullshit Conspiracy’

An address associated to Alameda Research reveals borrowing and selling activity, which some allege is to blame for the $WAVES slump, but which its CEO denies.

Sasha Ivanov, the founder of $WAVES, accused Alameda Research of foul play in a tweetstorm on April 4. Ivanov says that the trading firm is conducting a coordinated disinformation effort aimed at inducing panic selling.

Last week, $WAVES reached a new all-time high of $63.59. But since then, there has been a severe sell-off, with the price down 30% at the time of writing. Meanwhile, throughout the same time period, the broader market price activity has remained rather stable.

Ivanov dug deeper and discovered that the sell-off was orchestrated by Alameda Research. But why would he believe such a thing?

Ivanov traces the narrative back to a Bloomberg piece on the comeback of $WAVES on February 24, which happened to coincide with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Gains from that date to a trough comes in at 600% in three weeks.

According to the report, Peter Guo, a Researcher at crypto investing business Babel, believes that this is most likely a reaction to sanctions that have closed off traditional monetary channels.

“Some people could be rushing into Waves in response to potential economic sanctions and limited traditional payment channels.”

Despite the fact that many people mistake $WAVES for a Russian project, Ivanov stated he and $WAVES have terminated relations with Russia. Despite the fact that Ivanov worked and studied in Russia, he stated that he was born in Ukraine.

Ivanov rejected the Russian incursion as a cause in the $WAVES price increase. Instead, he ascribed the increase to recent year-ahead announcements, including the creation of a U.S. subsidiary business.

“I don’t think there’s any connection between the situation in Russia and the current market action around Waves.”

Why does Ivanov think Alameda Research is targeting $WAVES?

Ivanov claimed he witnessed a campaign of “sour people” badmouthing the project in the first part of March, just as $WAVES was starting to rise.

Ivanov alleges he was contacted by someone who wanted to borrow one million $WAVES using the Vires Finance lending and borrowing service. This, he believed, would be used to short the token.

Ivanov, on the other hand, declined the request since it is against corporate policy to sell or lend $WAVES. Further investigation into who could be responsible uncovered an address starting with 3PHkZUJ, which Ivanov alleges belongs to Alameda Research.

This account shows a pattern of behavior in which it sends borrowed $WAVES to Binance to sell, lowering the price.

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of Alameda Research and FTX, did not respond in length, instead sending a single tweet.

Nonetheless, this isn’t the first time Alameda Research has been accused of unethical behavior. In a 2021 article published on Substack, the corporation was accused of conspiring with Cumberland Global to boost the Bitcoin price using Tether.

Since the event, Vires Finance has received a protocol modification proposal that would lower the liquidation threshold and raise the APR charged by borrowers, making borrowing $WAVES an unappealing offer.

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Patrick

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