Blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps has raised serious allegations against Edel Finance, claiming that the team behind the decentralized lending protocol sniped 30% of the EDEL token supply during its launch earlier this month, worth approximately $11 million.
According to Bubblemaps, a cluster of about 160 wallets accumulated the tokens in a coordinated fashion, funded through Binance and MEXC exchanges just before trading opened. The platform detailed that these wallets were linked and used a strategy consistent with "sniping," where bots automate trades to secure tokens at launch prices. Bubblemaps stated, "Edel Finance sniped 30% of $EDEL. Then tried to hide it behind a maze of wallets and liquidity positions." Half of the purchased tokens were distributed among 100 secondary wallets, all linked to MEXC, and the token contract's code explicitly included these wallets, suggesting intentional obfuscation.
In response, James Sherborne, co-founder of Edel Finance, denied the allegations, stating that the team planned to acquire 60% of the token supply and place it into vesting contracts as per the documentation. However, Bubblemaps countered this, calling it the "Hayden Davis defense" and noting that the official tokenomics only allocate 12.7% to the team through a 36-month vesting schedule. The EDEL token, which supports a lending protocol for tokenized stocks and real-world assets, has seen its market cap drop 62% to $14.9 million over the past week, with the token trading at $0.02937.
