tl;dr
Crypto exchange Bitget is suing eight accounts accused of manipulating VOXEL token trading and profiting over $20 million during a surge on April 20. Bitget sent legal letters to these accounts, believed to be a "professional arbitrage group." The exchange plans to return recovered funds to users vi...
Crypto exchange Bitget is suing eight accounts accused of manipulating VOXEL token trading and profiting over $20 million during a surge on April 20. The exchange sent legal letters to these accounts, believed to be a "professional arbitrage group." Bitget plans to redistribute any recovered funds to users through an airdrop.
VOXEL’s price spiked more than 560%, rising from $0.021 to $0.139, before dropping 47% to $0.074. Bitget detected "abnormal activity" in VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures trading, suspending some accounts temporarily from trading, depositing, and withdrawing. While most users were reportedly unaffected, Bitget has yet to disclose those responsible or the technical causes behind the manipulation and promised a full report on the incident.
On social media, crypto traders speculated that a malfunction in Bitget’s market-making technology may have contributed to the event. Some likened the situation to a casino suing gamblers for winning jackpots. Bitget’s CEO criticized decentralized exchange Hyperliquid’s handling of a recent exploit, calling it "immature, unethical, and unprofessional" and warning it risks becoming "FTX 2.0." Hyperliquid had to delist its JELLY perpetual futures following a liquidation exploit.
Separately, Binance recently expelled two market makers linked to price crashes in GPS, SHELL, and MOVE tokens. Bitget confirmed it hosts major market makers but declined to reveal their identities, citing confidentiality. The incident highlights ongoing challenges in maintaining fair trading practices and technological integrity within crypto exchanges.