Lookonchain uncovered what appears to be a significant case of insider trading involving the cryptocurrency FOCAI on the Solana blockchain. According to a post made in the early hours of today, insiders associated with the token have reportedly made profits amounting to $20 million.
The investigation by Lookonchain revealed that 15 suspected insider wallets collectively spent 67.16 SOL, equivalent to approximately $14.6K at the time, to purchase 605 million FOCAI tokens, which constituted 60.5% of the token’s total supply.
These transactions were executed on Raydium, a decentralized exchange on the Solana network. The insiders then sold all their holdings for 94,175 SOL, which, at the time of sale, was valued at around $20.5 million. This netted them a profit of 94,108 SOL, or roughly $20.48 million.
Inside traders used other wallets for ‘market making’
In a follow-up tweet, Lookonchain provided a correction to its initial findings, stating that it was confirmed the team behind FOCAI used other insider wallets to acquire the token supply, further implicating the project’s team in the orchestration of the trade.
Correction:Yes, it appears the team used other insider wallets to acquire the supply.https://t.co/rw0wUi2nWG
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 4, 2025
The revelation has sparked a significant reaction within the cryptocurrency community on X, with users expressing shock and dismay at the scale of the profits made through what appears to be privileged information.
According to Coingecko Terminal market data, the AI cryptocurrency made a strong debut, quickly surging in value after going online. Within just 11 minutes, the project reached a market capitalization of over $50 million. Trading volume also spiked, reaching $48.2 million within the first 47 minutes of its launch.
FOCAI 24-hour price chart. Source: TradingView
After insider trading activity ensued, the price dropped to $0.327, with a market cap of $32.7 million.
Analysts identify FOCAI red flags
A crypto analyst going by the handle @olegmetaverse posted a detailed warning on X, flagging the FOCAI project as a potential scam. According to oleG, the AI-affiliated coin had several red flags that suggest misrepresentation and lack of technical integrity.
$focai is larp lol$check @larpcheckAII'll analyze the provided codebase according to the specified criteria and generate a comprehensive fraud detection report.Cryptocurrency Project Fraud Analysis Report1. Executive SummaryOverall Risk Assessment Score: 75/100 (High Risk)…
— oleG🗿 (@olegmetaverse) January 4, 2025
The analysis revealed that the Solana token appears to be a fork or clone of an existing cryptocurrency, Eliza, with minimal original contributions. The analyst highlighted the heavy use of buzzwords like “AI” and “blockchain” in the marketing materials without any substantial technical backing to support such claims.
Another major issue they pointed out was the inconsistent and incomplete documentation across various languages, suggesting a lack of transparency and possibly an attempt to mislead investors.
They also found that, despite claiming blockchain integration, the project’s codebase showed no significant blockchain or cryptocurrency features, contradicting its promotional promises.
Further scrutiny revealed unclear token economics, an important element for any legitimate cryptocurrency project, and a lack of proper smart contract implementation, which is fundamental to blockchain-based systems. The code itself was heavily based on forked code, with poor security measures and no evidence of decentralized operations.
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