Trove Markets quietly refunded influencers over $700K in stablecoins after ICO crash
Trove Markets, a decentralized exchange project, refunded select crypto influencers with more than $700,000 in stablecoins after its native token $TROVE collapsed following an initial coin offering (ICO). The project had raised $11.5 million in the presale and was originally marketed to launch on Hyperliquid before switching to Solana. Around the token generation event a third-party liquidity provider sold roughly $20 million in HYPE, and when $TROVE launched it fell about 99%, wiping out presale investor capital. Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps traced on-chain transfers within 24 hours of the crash: roughly $100,000 in USDC and $350,000 in USDT moved from wallets linked to the Trove deployer to newly funded wallets, plus additional transfers exceeding $250,000 to wallets tied to other influencers. Bubblemaps also linked the payments to a leaked Telegram chat where Trove’s founder discussed compensating a key opinion leader who demanded a refund. Key details for traders: the incident involves an ICO failure, rapid token devaluation (~99% drop), large offloads from a liquidity provider (~$20M HYPE), and targeted stablecoin reimbursements to influencers totaling >$700K. Primary keywords: Trove Markets, ICO crash, stablecoin refunds, $TROVE, Solana. Secondary/semantic keywords: presale investors, liquidity provider sell-off, USDC, USDT, influencer payouts. Traders should watch for fallout in token listings, potential wash trading or market-manipulation probes, and reputational contagion to similar Solana-based launches.
Bearish
This news is bearish for several reasons. A near-total token collapse (~99% drop) following an ICO undermines investor confidence in the project and presale mechanisms, increasing risk aversion among retail and institutional buyers. The revelation that core wallets quietly routed over $700K in stablecoins to influencers while presale investors lost funds raises red flags about governance, transparency, and potential preferential treatment — factors that often prompt sell-offs and reduced participation in similar launches. The $20M HYPE sell-off by a liquidity provider near the event indicates disorderly liquidity conditions that can amplify downside pressure. Short-term impact: heightened volatility, rapid price declines for $TROVE (likely delisting risk), and contagion selling across risky ICO-era tokens and some Solana launches. Traders should expect rapid exit liquidity and opportunistic shorting. Long-term impact: stricter due diligence by investors, reduced appetite for presales without clear vesting/lockup enforcement, and potential regulatory scrutiny on influencer compensation practices. Market healing depends on transparent remediation, audits, or legal outcomes; absent that, sentiment and capital flow to comparable projects will remain constrained. Historical parallels include other ICO collapses and influencer-linked reimbursements that preceded prolonged market distrust and regulatory interest.