Trove Markets Accused of $10 Million HYPE Token Dump Amid Fraud Concerns

Trove Markets, a Web3 decentralized perpetual exchange built on Hyperliquid's HIP-3 protocol, is under scrutiny for allegedly selling over $10 million worth of $HYPE tokens within 24 hours from a wallet linked to the project. These tokens were initially acquired through a $20 million ICO to secure the 500,000 $HYPE stake required for permissionless deployment under HIP-3. On-chain data showed sales escalating rapidly, totaling 194,273 HYPE tokens. Compounding the issue, the founder reportedly denied control over the wallet and requested its shutdown, only for sales to resume shortly after. This controversy follows prior concerns regarding Trove's ICO, influencer payments, and alleged concealment of team members' Iranian origins. In response to the suspicious activity, the Hyperliquid Foundation donated 10,000 $HYPE to investigator ZachXBT to probe the token sales. Despite the fallout, which saw the HYPE token drop significantly below its ICO price, Trove Markets announced a delay and shift in its token generation event (TGE) to January 19, 2026, while maintaining mainnet plans for February 2026.

(Source：BeInCrypto)