ZachXBT Strikes Again: $10,000 Bounty to Track Down LAB Token Manipulators
- Core Insight: On-chain detective ZachXBT has publicly offered a bounty for the identity of the LAB token founder, accusing them of price manipulation; on-chain analysts have further confirmed that approximately 95% of LAB tokens are controlled by the team, raising suspicions of a pump-and-dump scheme, with the project continuing to transfer large amounts of tokens even after being exposed.
- Key Elements:
- ZachXBT has posted a $10,000 bounty for information on the identity of LAB founder vsadkovv and internal documents such as market maker contracts, accusing them of token price manipulation, which undermines industry credibility.
- A report from on-chain analyst Specter estimates that approximately 95% of the LAB token supply is controlled by the team, with at least six associated addresses still holding large amounts of tokens, indicating a high risk of centralized control.
- The LAB token price surged from a range of $0.2-$0.5 at the end of April to nearly $5 by May 4th, representing a gain of over 1300% in the past 30 days. During this period, a core address funneled approximately 100 million tokens to Bitget, accounting for about 50% of the circulating supply.
- On May 5th, a team-associated address transferred at least 911 ETH through the Tornado Cash mixer to obscure the flow of funds, further corroborating manipulative behavior.
- Even after ZachXBT's bounty, the project team transferred 3.66 million LAB (approximately $14.07 million) from a multi-signature address to a new address on May 7th, indicating that the manipulative activities have not ceased.
Original Author: ChandlerZ, Foresight News
On May 7, on-chain detective ZachXBT publicly offered a $10,000 bounty for information identifying the founder of the LAB token, vsadkovv (Vova Sadkov), including passports, government-issued IDs, as well as internal documents such as market maker contracts and chat logs used by LAB on Bitget spot, Bybit perpetuals, Binance perpetuals, and OKX perpetuals.
ZachXBT stated that he had previously contacted the LAB team privately but received no response, leading him to escalate the matter publicly. In his tweet, he specifically pointed out that while vsadkovv cultivates a personal image on social media by posting "philosophical musings," he simultaneously engages in token price manipulation, calling such behavior "further undermining the overall credibility of the crypto industry."
On the same day, on-chain analyst Specter released a more detailed on-chain tracking report, characterizing LAB's price volatility as a pump-and-dump scheme.
A Premeditated Price Pump
LAB is a multi-chain trading terminal project supporting spot trading, limit orders, and perpetual contracts across multiple chains, featuring AI-driven analytics tools. According to estimates from several on-chain analysts, approximately 95% of LAB's token supply is concentrated among the team and insiders. Specter listed at least six wallet addresses associated with the team, which still hold a significant amount 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 28, it began a staged rally, gradually breaking through the $1 and $2 thresholds. By May 4, it accelerated to nearly $5, marking a gain of over 1300% in 30 days. However, the period was marked by extreme volatility, with sharp corrections following rallies.
According to Arkham monitoring, starting around April 24, LAB's core associated address began funneling funds to three Bitget deposit addresses (0xDd7..., 0x659...). It is estimated that these two addresses received a total of 100 million LAB tokens, valued at approximately $64.96 million, which subsequently entered Bitget's hot wallet.
On April 25, this address transferred 18 million LAB tokens to a Bitget deposit address in two batches, valued at approximately $15.39 million. Analysis suggests that at the time, with LAB's circulating supply at 230.4 million tokens, the total amount received by this Bitget deposit address accounted for about 50% of the circulating supply. The concentration of large amounts of tokens moving to an exchange during a price rally could indicate subsequent selling for profit or position adjustments by market makers.
According to Specter's analysis, starting in May, addresses linked to the LAB project engaged in a series of highly suspicious on-chain operations.
One address (0xb61d2e77...f18a103e5) executed multiple Multicall and Transfer operations on May 5, involving interactions with SushiSwap V3 and contract creation. More notably, on May 4, another set of addresses (0x11F9b0f4...DF8e61Df) initiated at least nine deposit transactions to the Tornado Cash Router, each consisting of 100 ETH, totaling at least 900 ETH. Additionally, there was one deposit of 10 ETH and another of 1 ETH, bringing the total to over 911 ETH.
Post-Allegation: Project Team Continues Large Token Transfers
Notably, even after ZachXBT's public bounty, the on-chain activity of the LAB project team did not cease. According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, on May 7, one address received 3.66 million LAB tokens (worth approximately $14.07 million) from the LAB project's multi-sig address (0x36F...0C291).
Tracing the source of these funds leads back to the LAB token deployer address. Subsequently, this address transferred 2.125 million tokens to two contract addresses, the purpose of which remains unclear.
In terms of price, LAB briefly crashed from nearly $5 to $3 following ZachXBT's allegations but quickly bounced back within less than a night. As of May 8, it was quoted around $4.64011, nearly recovering all its 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, and Presto Labs. The funds were intended to accelerate infrastructure, product development, and global expansion.
Price manipulation issues in the crypto industry are drawing broader regulatory attention. In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 10 executives from market makers including 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 triggers similar enforcement actions depends on whether ZachXBT's bounty investigation can gather sufficient identity and contract evidence.
As of press time, the LAB project team and vsadkovv have not issued a public response to the aforementioned allegations.
