ZachXBT Strikes Again: $10,000 Bounty to Unmask LAB Token Manipulation
- Core Thesis: On-chain detective ZachXBT has publicly posted a bounty for information identifying the founder of the LAB token, accusing them of price manipulation; on-chain analysts further confirm that approximately 95% of LAB tokens are controlled by the team, suggesting a potential pump-and-dump scheme, with the project team continuing to transfer large amounts of tokens even after being exposed.
- Key Elements:
- ZachXBT has offered a $10,000 bounty for information identifying LAB founder vsadkovv and internal documents such as market maker contracts, accusing them of token price manipulation, which undermines industry credibility.
- On-chain analyst Specter estimates in a report that approximately 95% of the LAB token supply is controlled by the team, and at least six associated addresses still hold large amounts of tokens, indicating a high risk of market manipulation.
- The LAB token price surged from the $0.2-0.5 range in late April to nearly $5 by May 4th, a gain of over 1300% in the last 30 days; during this period, core addresses consolidated approximately 100 million tokens to Bitget, representing about 50% of the circulating supply.
- On May 5th, a team-associated address transferred at least 911 ETH via the Tornado Cash mixer to obscure the flow of funds, further corroborating the manipulative behavior.
- Even after ZachXBT's bounty was posted, the project team continued its activity, transferring 3.66 million LAB (approximately $14.07 million) from a multi-signature address to a new address on May 7th, indicating that the manipulative behavior has not ceased.
Original author: ChandlerZ, Foresight News
On May 7th, on-chain investigator ZachXBT publicly offered a $10,000 bounty for information on the identity of LAB token founder vsadkovv (Vova Sadkov), including passports, government-issued IDs, as well as internal documents such as market maker contracts used for LAB on Bitget spot, Bybit perpetual swaps, Binance perpetual swaps, and OKX perpetual swaps.
ZachXBT stated that he had previously contacted the LAB team privately but received no response, then chose to escalate the matter publicly. In his tweet, he specifically pointed out that vsadkovv was posting "philosophical musings" on social media to cultivate a personal image while simultaneously participating in token price manipulation, describing such behavior as "further eroding the overall credibility of the crypto industry."
On the same day, on-chain analyst Specter released a more detailed on-chain tracing report, characterizing LAB's price movements as a pump-and-dump scheme.
A Premeditated Pump
LAB is a multi-chain trading terminal project supporting spot trading, limit orders, and perpetual swaps across multiple chains, featuring AI-driven analysis tools. According to estimates from several on-chain analysts, approximately 95% of LAB's token supply is concentrated in the hands of the team and insiders. Specter listed at least six wallet addresses associated with the team that still hold large amounts of LAB tokens.
Looking at the price chart, LAB traded sideways in a low range between $0.2 and $0.5 throughout early to late April. Around April 28th, it began a stepwise rally, gradually breaking through the $1 and $2 thresholds. On May 4th, it accelerated to near $5, achieving a gain of over 1300% in the past 30 days. However, the period was marked by extreme volatility, with significant pullbacks occurring after several upward spikes.
According to monitoring by Arkham, around April 24th, a core address linked to LAB began intensively consolidating funds to three Bitget deposit addresses (0xDd7..., 0x659...). Statistics show that these two addresses collectively received 100 million LAB tokens, valued at approximately $64.96 million, with the funds subsequently entering Bitget's hot wallet.
On April 25th, this address transferred 18 million LAB tokens in two transactions to a Bitget deposit address, with a total value of approximately $15.39 million. Analysis suggests that with LAB's circulating supply being 230.4 million tokens, the total amount received by this Bitget deposit address at that time represented about 50% of its circulating supply. The movement of large amounts of tokens to exchanges during a price rally could indicate subsequent selling for liquidity or adjustments in market maker positions.
According to Specter's analysis, starting in May, addresses associated with the LAB project exhibited a series of highly suspicious on-chain activities.
One address (0xb61d2e77...f18a103e5) conducted multiple Multicall and Transfer operations on May 5th, involving interactions with SushiSwap V3 and contract creation. More notably, on May 4th, another set of addresses (0x11F9b0f4...DF8e61Df) initiated at least 9 deposit transactions to the Tornado Cash Router consecutively, each for 100 ETH, totaling at least 900 ETH. Additionally, there were deposits of 10 ETH and 1 ETH, bringing the total to over 911 ETH.
After Being Exposed: Project Team Continues Large-Scale Token Transfers
Notably, even after ZachXBT's public bounty hunt, the on-chain activities of the LAB project team did not cease. According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, on May 7th, an address received 3.66 million LAB tokens, worth approximately $14.07 million, from the LAB project team's multi-signature address (0x36F...0C291).
Tracing back, the source of these funds is the deployer address of the LAB token. Subsequently, this address transferred 2.125 million tokens to two contract addresses, the purpose of which remains unclear for now.
On the price front, LAB plummeted from nearly $5 to $3 following ZachXBT's allegations, but quickly rebounded within a night. As of May 8th, it was quoted at approximately $4.64011, almost fully recovering the losses.
In October 2025, LAB announced the completion of a $5 million funding round with participation from Selini Capital, Re7 Capital, Cypher Capital, RedBeard VC, Lemniscap, TVM Ventures, OKX Ventures, Mirana, KuCoin Ventures, Gate Ventures, GSR, Animoca Brands, Presto Labs, and others, with funds intended to accelerate infrastructure, product development, and global expansion.
The issue of price manipulation in the crypto industry is attracting broader regulatory attention. In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 10 executives from market makers like Gotbit and Vortex, accusing them of using bots for wash trading to inflate token prices. The founder of Gotbit has pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit $23 million.
Whether the LAB incident will trigger similar enforcement actions depends on whether ZachXBT's bounty investigation can gather sufficient identity and contractual evidence.
As of press time, the LAB project team and vsadkovv have not yet issued a public response to the aforementioned allegations.
