Crypto exchange Binance has investigated allegations of insider trading concerning the listing of Solana meme coin Book Of Meme (BOME).
Binance Investigates Insider Trading Claims
On March 14th, Pepe Meme artist Darkfarms introduced the Solana meme coin BOME. He initiated the token’s presale by sharing a Solana address on Twitter, where raised SOL funds were utilized to add liquidity.
Within three days, BOME skyrocketed from zero to a peak market value of over $2 billion (currently valued at $700 million) and secured a listing on the Binance exchange.
However, before the listing of the meme coin, a whale – a person or entity that holds a large amount of crypto – purchased 314 million BOME tokens for $2.3 million on the Raydium decentralized exchange (DEX) on March 15, at an average price of $0.0074 per token.
After the listing, the token’s value skyrocketed to $0.026, making the purchased tokens worth approximately $5 million. This suspicious transaction triggered community discussions, with some speculating about the possibility of insider trading.
Binance promptly responded to the allegations by launching an internal investigation into the insider trading claims linked to BOME’s listing on their exchange.
In a statement, Binance addressed the community’s concerns, stating that it takes such information seriously and is committed to conducting a thorough investigation. The exchange’s preliminary findings indicate that the individual named in the allegations has no connection to Binance.
Moreover, Binance expressed gratitude for the community’s vigilance and emphasized the importance of transparency and fairness. The exchange promised to continue investigating the matter in-depth to uncover the truth surrounding the allegations.
To encourage reporting any instances of currency quotation corruption or insider misconduct involving Binance team members, the exchange offered financial rewards ranging from $100,000 to $5 million while ensuring the confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity.
According to CoinGecko data, the BOME token currently trades at $0.01114, marking a significant 51% decline from its listing price and all-time high (ATH) of $0.02689. Additionally, the trading volume has decreased by 35%.
OKX Founder Responds To Speculations
In contrast to Binance, the second-largest offshore exchange, OKX, has not listed any recent Solana meme coins. The founder of OKX, StarXu, has responded to speculations regarding this matter.
StarXu clarified that the OKX listing team’s primary focus is to discover valuable and promising utility tokens for their customers at an early stage. Unlike some exchanges, OKX does not entertain requests or pitches for listings.
Instead, the founder of OKX stated that they thoroughly researched potential projects in the market and closely monitored the performance of the tokens over a long period. Final listing decisions are made independently by OKX’s Listing Committee.
StarXu emphasized that repeatedly promoting or pushing tokens to OKX team members on Twitter will not influence the listing process in any way. He urged individuals to refrain from such activities and stated that they have no influence on the selection of tokens for listing on the OKX exchange.
Binance Coin (BNB) is trading at $543, down 4.8% in the past 24 hours.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com