Ten fresh wallets pulled 100 million LAB tokens from Bitget over a 12-hour period — roughly $480.33 million at the time. The haul represented 32.26% of the token's circulating supply. The move has reignited criticism of the exchange by blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, who accuses Bitget's CEO Shawn Liu of letting scam projects operate behind the scenes while Gracy Chen serves as the public face.
The massive withdrawals
The wallets, none of which had prior transaction history, drained the tokens in a coordinated sequence. Analyst SpecterAnalyst later alleged that wallets tied to the LAB team had deposited 40 million LAB (worth ~$13.6 million) to Bitget on April 8. About a week before LAB's price pump on May 1, the same analyst said team-linked wallets sent another 96 million LAB (worth ~$63 million) to the exchange. SpecterAnalyst described the activity as coordinated based on gas-fee distribution and other behavioral patterns.
At press time, the Bitget token traded at $2.11.
ZachXBT's escalating criticism
ZachXBT has been a persistent critic of Bitget. He previously called out the exchange for a lack of public updates on the investigation into the RAVE token, which faced manipulation allegations. In April, Gracy Chen responded to those claims, stating that Bitget had started investigating the RAVE incident. Now ZachXBT has announced a $10,000 reward for evidence related to LAB market manipulation — including insider information and the identity of the LAB founder known as Vova Sadkov.
The sleuth's allegations are serious but rest on wallet clustering and transaction interpretation. No exchange or regulator has issued formal findings.
What's at stake for Bitget
The accusations come at a sensitive time for Bitget. The exchange has been trying to polish its image, with Chen acting as a high-profile representative. ZachXBT's claim — that Liu allows scams while Chen is the public face — directly challenges that narrative. So far, neither Liu nor Chen has publicly responded to the latest LAB-related allegations.
Unresolved questions
The core question remains: were the large withdrawals simply a whale repositioning, or part of a coordinated scheme to move token supply ahead of a pump? SpecterAnalyst's timeline suggests the team may have deposited tokens before a price surge, then withdrew after. But the evidence is circumstantial — no formal investigation by Bitget or any regulator has been announced regarding the LAB token. The $10,000 reward from ZachXBT may draw out more details, but for now, the picture is built on blockchain traces, not official findings.
