Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has called out EdgeX over its claim of external manipulation as the cause of its token, $EDGE, losing around 70% of its value on June 1. ZachXBT is not alone in his criticism, as the project’s own community is also not buying EdgeX’s explanation.
The saga joins a growing list of low-float token collapses that onchain sleuths had flagged in advance.
The decentralized derivatives exchange posted two statements on X within hours of the crash. In its first statement, which was posted on June 1, EdgeX acknowledged “sudden and irregular price movement” and promised an investigation.
The second, on June 2, ruled out any hack or exploit and attributed the sell-off to “deliberate” market-price manipulation by outside actors, according to the project’s official X account.
What is ZachXBT demanding from EdgeX?
ZachXBT posted a response to EdgeX’s explanation, stating, “We all know EdgeX supply was being controlled by a few insiders with a low float.”
He added that if EdgeX really cares about transparency, they will name “the counterparties / MM agreements which lead to these events.”
ZacbXBT’s skepticism carries weight. Cryptopolitan has previously reported on his investigations into $RAVE, $SIREN, and Memecore’s M token, all of which followed a similar pattern of a sharp rally on thin liquidity, concentrated insider holdings, and an eventual crash.
How is the community receiving the news?
EdgeX also attempted to clarify that a smart contract address flagged by users, 0x7f861a7db997b4f6e5ef9954a3b5d5b29c463cb2, was a legitimate deposit and withdrawal contract, not evidence of foul play.
However, the ratio on the project’s posts shows that users are not exactly pleased with the turn of events. The initial June 1 announcement has received over 130 comments on X, many of whom do not believe the EdgeX team, with some accusing them of foul play.
The project has not yet named the “external participants” it blames, disclosed trading data, or published the promised incident report.
Price damage and liquidations
$EDGE fell from $1.14 to an all-time low of $0.366 as seen on CoinMarketCap during the June 1 session, a peak-to-trough decline of roughly 70% on Binance at some point.
The token caused over $2.81 million in liquidations within a single hour, with long positions accounting for $1.96 million of that total and shorts making up roughly $849,000.
As of June 2, $EDGE was trading around $0.64, a decline of over 45% in the past 24 hours with a market capitalization of over $226 million, according to CoinMarketCap. The token had hit an all-time high of $1.54 just 11 days earlier, on May 22.
A pattern ZachXBT has seen before
The EdgeX incident fits a template that ZachXBT and analytics firm BubbleMaps have documented across multiple tokens since early 2026. In the $RAVE collapse in April, addresses linked to initial token distribution controlled around 95% of supply before the token crashed more than 95% from its peak.
ZachXBT’s investigation connected $RAVE to a playbook he said operated across RIVER, $SIREN, MYX, SKYAI, and other tokens via centralized exchanges.
In several of those cases, warnings arrived before the crash, not after. BubbleMaps flagged $SIREN’s concentrated ownership weeks before its market cap dropped from $1.52 billion to $320 million. ZachXBT offered bounties for information on the $RAVE manipulation before the token’s sharpest decline. Cryptopolitan reported on the $RAVE and $SIREN rallies near all-time highs, noting coordinated pump signals, and $SIREN crashed barely an hour after publication.
EdgeX has promised a comprehensive report once its investigation concludes. ZachXBT has made clear he expects that report to include names.