The LAB token, once a standout performer in the bear market, has collapsed by 97% from its all-time high of over $27 to below $0.55. The latest leg of the crash came after blockchain investigator ZachXBT revealed that a wallet first funded by the LAB team dumped 18.4 million tokens (worth approximately $18.3 million) on the decentralized exchange Aster, pushing the price down more than 56% in just two days.
ZachXBT traced the wallet’s activity back to April 2026, when it received over 196 million LAB directly from the project. On April 8, the entity deposited 100 million LAB into two Bitget addresses, then moved a second batch of 96 million to two other Bitget addresses later that month. Between May 11 and 12, 100 million LAB were withdrawn from Bitget and split across ten wallets. After months of dormancy, the same group began sending LAB to three Aster addresses on July 10–11, where spot sales drove the price from about $1.20 to $0.54.
The on-chain sleuth noted that there was no evidence of an independent buyer amassing such a large position, concluding that the wallets remained under the control of a single entity. Despite the heavy selling, the wallets still hold over 81.5 million LAB.
ZachXBT’s latest findings follow a May report in which he accused the LAB team of maintaining excessive supply control, altering lockup terms without community vote, and engaging in opaque over-the-counter deals with steep discounts. He highlighted that insiders controlled more than 95% of the token’s supply, while public data on circulating supply was inconsistent across platforms. Private loans, including one offering 7.5% monthly interest and repayment in LAB at market price, were also uncovered.
The investigator criticized exchanges like Bitget, Binance, and Gate for allowing what he called “blatant market manipulation.” LAB’s founders, Vova Sadkov and Mark, previously ran the Eesee project (ESE token) and listed backers such as Lemniscap, OKX, Animoca Brands, GSR, Gate, KuCoin, Mirana, and Amber Group. The crash highlights deep-seated trust issues in altcoin projects with concealed insider dominance and opaque distribution tactics.
