The opening price is expected to drop by 75%, perhaps the first project to be rug pulled this year.
Trove once had a perfect narrative.
As a Perp DEX focused on collectibles and RWAs, Trove claimed to be able to transform illiquid "cultural assets," such as Pokémon cards, CSGO skins, and luxury watches, into tradable financial assets, providing collectors with a hedging venue.
However, in just ten days, the Trove team staged a farce through a series of jaw-dropping maneuvers. Along the way, they also emptied the pockets of onlookers.
Bait
In late October last year, Trove founder @unwisecap extolled the virtues of "Perp All Things" in several articles and announced that Trove would be built on HIP-3, teasing the community.
Over the following month, Trove successively announced partnerships with Kalshi and CARDS (Collector_Crypt), receiving official endorsement replies from both well-known projects (P.S. As of the time of writing, Kalshi has already completed a "severance" and deleted the reply under Trove's official tweet)

In mid-December, Trove announced a $20+ million acquisition of 500,000 HYPE tokens to meet HIP-3 integration requirements. This was followed by the launch of a testnet incentive plan, with platform trading volume surpassing $1 million within two weeks, everything was progressing as expected. Until...

Insider Trading Playbook
On January 6, Trove suddenly announced a $20 million FDV ICO, with the public sale adopting an "oversubscribed" model, offering priority allocation to token holders. Alongside a group of KOLs wearing the Trove badge engaging in concentrated promotion, Trove successfully raised $11.5 million, 4.6 times oversubscribed.

With less than two hours left until the ICO deadline, the Polymarket market on "Trove ICO Total Raise> $20M" had almost zero probability.
The climax then began. The team suddenly broke the rules, announcing a 5-day extension of the ICO to ensure fair distribution. The "YES" option on Polymarket instantly skyrocketed from the bottom to nearly 60%. Insider funds clearly acted swiftly; on-chain data showed that specific wallets precociously placed bets before the announcement and swiftly exited after the price surge.

Perhaps thinking that the liquidity of the prediction market was not enough to satisfy their appetite, amid community skepticism, the Trove team, in a surprising turn of events, staged a drama akin to "The Empty City Strategy": announcing a withdrawal of the extension decision and ending the ICO as originally planned.
Along with this announcement, the corresponding market immediately went to zero and settled. Polymarket data shows that some related wallets placed accurate bets before the news was made public and continued to profit in the subsequent reversal.

The Great Retreat
On January 17, Trove suddenly announced abandoning Hyperliquid and instead issuing tokens on Solana. For a project that had been fundraising under the banner of the Hyperliquid ecosystem, this was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.
At the same time, on-chain sleuths detected Trove's team utilizing a timed sell-off function, attempting to sell off half of their HYPE token holdings in 40 minutes.
Choosing to sell millions of dollars worth of tokens in 40 minutes during the weekend with the lowest liquidity, the Trove team was undeniably in a hurry.

Faced with questioning, the Trove team's explanation seemed feeble: "Investors were feeling nervous and decided to exit." However, on-chain transaction records show that these sell-off actions were carried out while the team was publicly denying "we are selling coins."
This stark inconsistency between words and actions completely shattered the community's trust threshold. As trust crumbled, more dark secrets were revealed.
Well-known on-chain detective ZachXBT revealed that the Trove team paid a marketing fee of up to $45,000 to @TJRTrades, directly deposited into this KOL's gambling website recharge address.

KOL @hrithikk stated that the Trove team not only provided generous marketing fees to KOLs but also privately offered ICO allocations with valuations as low as $8.5 million, at a discount of up to 60%, along with substantial airdrop rewards. Currently, Trove is still selling shares at a low price and has approached him over 5 times asking if he would invest in Trove.

Trove will conduct the TGE at 1:00 AM on January 20 Beijing time. Polymarket's market data shows that, based on the presale valuation, there is a 90% probability that the TROVE token will break the peg.

The good news is that this farce may not end with a simple "Soft Rug." Trove had previously claimed on its website to comply with the EU's MiCA regulation. Now, faced with false advertising and potential fraud allegations, outraged investors would be entirely justified in pursuing civil litigation under MiCA provisions.
The bad news is that chat screenshots disclosed by a KOL show that team members appear to be from Iran.
The Hyperliquid ecosystem is known for its strong community cohesion, but the atmosphere of trust has also provided fertile ground for scammers.
You may also like

Best Crypto to Buy Now February 10 – XRP, Solana, Dogecoin
Key Takeaways XRP is set to revolutionize cross-border transactions, potentially reaching $5 by the end of Q2 with…

Kyle Samani Criticizes Hyperliquid in Explosive Post-Departure Market Commentary
Key Takeaways: Kyle Samani, former co-founder of Multicoin Capital, publicly criticizes Hyperliquid, labeling it a systemic risk. Samani’s…

Leading AI Claude Forecasts the Price of XRP, Cardano, and Ethereum by the End of 2026
Key Takeaways: XRP’s value is projected to reach $8 by 2026 due to major institutional adoption. Cardano (ADA)…

Bitcoin Price Prediction: Alarming New Research Cautions Millions in BTC at Risk of ‘Quantum Freeze’ – Are You Ready?
Key Takeaways Quantum Threat to Bitcoin: The rise of quantum computing presents a unique security challenge to Bitcoin,…

XRP Price Prediction: Could XRP Ultimately Surpass Bitcoin and Ethereum?
Key Takeaways XRP has maintained a strong position despite a recent 12% drop, suggesting potential for growth. Analyst…

Best Crypto to Buy Now February 6 – XRP, Solana, Bitcoin
Key Takeaways The cryptocurrency market is experiencing pressure due to a technology-sector selloff, affecting digital assets like Bitcoin.…

South Korea Broadens Crypto Market Investigation Following Bithumb’s $44 Billion Bitcoin Error
Key Takeaways South Korea intensifies scrutiny on cryptocurrency exchange operations after Bithumb’s significant Bitcoin transaction error. Regulatory bodies,…

Tom Lee-Supported Bitmine Dominates 3.6% of Ethereum Supply Post-Price Crash
Key Takeaways Bitmine Immersion Technologies now controls 3.6% of Ethereum’s total supply after strategic purchases during market downturns.…

XRP Yearly Returns Hit Record Low Since 2023
Key Takeaways XRP’s yearly returns are at their lowest since 2023, as the crypto market grapples with a…

BTC Traders Eye $50K as Potential Bottom: Key Metrics to Monitor This Week
Key Takeaways Traders are closely monitoring the potential bottom for Bitcoin at $50,000 as recent price movements suggest…

Fraudulent ‘XRP’ Issued Token Sparks Confusion on the XRP Ledger
Key Takeaways An imposter XRP token is causing bewilderment within the XRP community by being superficially identical to…

XRP Yearly Returns Reach Their Lowest Point Since 2023
Key Takeaways XRP’s weakest annual performance since 2023 highlights the ongoing struggles within the cryptocurrency market. Market dynamics…

Cardano ‘Midnight Fixes Everything’: Charles Hoskinson
Key Takeaways Cardano’s Midnight sidechain, launched in December 2025, is championed by Charles Hoskinson as a solution to…

SHIB Army Burns 3,564,772 SHIB, While Half Quadrillion Coins Remain in Circulation
Key Takeaways The Shiba Inu community has collectively burned nearly 3.5 million SHIB tokens recently, yet a substantial…

XRP Ledger Network Activity Decreases by 80% as Institutional Participation Wanes
Key Takeaways: Recent metrics indicate an 80% decline in XRP Ledger network activity, correlating with diminished institutional involvement.…

Michael Saylor Insists “We Will Not Be Selling” As Strategy (MSTR) Stock Breaks Out
Key Takeaways Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, remains highly sensitive to Bitcoin’s volatile market, with its stock performance closely mirroring…

Brad Garlinghouse Adds Personal Touch to XRP Community Day with Exclusive Merch
Key Takeaways Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, has personally signed exclusive merchandise for XRP Community Day, adding excitement…

PIPPIN Price Surge Signals Potential Breakout Despite Investor Selling
Key Takeaways PIPPIN has experienced a significant rally, with its price increasing by 159%, nearing its all-time high.…
Best Crypto to Buy Now February 10 – XRP, Solana, Dogecoin
Key Takeaways XRP is set to revolutionize cross-border transactions, potentially reaching $5 by the end of Q2 with…
Kyle Samani Criticizes Hyperliquid in Explosive Post-Departure Market Commentary
Key Takeaways: Kyle Samani, former co-founder of Multicoin Capital, publicly criticizes Hyperliquid, labeling it a systemic risk. Samani’s…
Leading AI Claude Forecasts the Price of XRP, Cardano, and Ethereum by the End of 2026
Key Takeaways: XRP’s value is projected to reach $8 by 2026 due to major institutional adoption. Cardano (ADA)…
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Alarming New Research Cautions Millions in BTC at Risk of ‘Quantum Freeze’ – Are You Ready?
Key Takeaways Quantum Threat to Bitcoin: The rise of quantum computing presents a unique security challenge to Bitcoin,…
XRP Price Prediction: Could XRP Ultimately Surpass Bitcoin and Ethereum?
Key Takeaways XRP has maintained a strong position despite a recent 12% drop, suggesting potential for growth. Analyst…
Best Crypto to Buy Now February 6 – XRP, Solana, Bitcoin
Key Takeaways The cryptocurrency market is experiencing pressure due to a technology-sector selloff, affecting digital assets like Bitcoin.…