Recent findings suggest that several digital tokens associated with the trading firm Alameda Research saw a sudden surge in price following their listing on the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, identified by a FTX tag. The firm, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, seemed to have direct ties with tokens such as BOBA, GALA, IMX, RNDR, and SPELL. Notably, these tokens saw up to a 30% increase in value, seemingly triggered by a flurry of suspiciously timed Twitter activity, as reported by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI).
The report referred to this surge in social media activity as ‘inauthentic’. Analysis pointed at orchestrated bot-like behavior on Twitter that suspiciously coincided with the tokens’ listing on the said exchange. Consequentially, speculation arises whether these online actions aimed to artificially manipulate market sentiment and related trading patterns.
An intriguing point to note is that this suspiciously driven social media buzz not only influenced the performance of tokens tied to Alameda. It seemed to have more bias towards PEPE, a popular meme coin, which ironically held no connections whatsoever with Alameda, FTX, or Bankman-Fried. In this case, the report suggested that Twitter bots acted as a catalyst rather than a mere side-effect for the observed market shifts.
Further adding more flavors of skepticism, the NCRI report highlighted past comments from Bankman-Fried regarding the acquisition of meme coins with no intrinsic values. If we could narrate his views in layman terms, he indicated a faith in social media hype to drive up the token price in the market.
Comments alluding to making a purchase purely based on a meme coin’s appeal with an expectation of a significant market cap seem somewhat contradicting to the established currency market dynamics. With such sentiments in the backdrop, the report naturally felt obligated to question whether FTX or Alameda were guilty of organizing inauthentic activity on social media, intended purely to inflate market values artificially.
While this continues to be a topic of investigation, it does shed some light on the more elusive aspects of crypto markets and the workings of influential entities within it. This may well serve as a wake-up call for both regulators and enthusiasts alike, prompting more scrutiny in our journey towards a blockchain-defined future.
Source: Cryptonews
