Regulatory warnings of potential market manipulation hit Rave DAO (RAVE) and Siren (SIREN) Thursday as both tokens surged another 10% to fresh all-time highs, fueling concerns of an organized pump-and-dump scheme. The parabolic rallies, sustained over the past week, are now under scrutiny for signs of coordinated trading activity that may disproportionately benefit insider groups.

RAVE peaked at new records just below $19, though with short-term volatility. The token also caused a mix of long and short liquidations after a brief dip to the $10 range in the past day.

RAVE exposes traders to liquidation risk for both long and short positions

The token’s performance showed increased risk for liquidations and extreme risk on the spot market. The biggest flaw of RAVE is that most of the supply is still controlled by the team, and may be sold at any time. Despite this, betting on the end of the RAVE rally has proven risky.

RAVE may repeat the performance of SIREN, which had several vertical rallies in the past months. SIREN peaked at $2.36 in March and is back with a new rally as high as $1.73. 

Despite the volatile trading, tokens like RAVE remain popular. Crypto traders can still benefit from large directional moves. RAVE, SIREN, and other tokens have liquid futures markets, as well as spot trading, and have shown they will not end in a rug pull. In some ways, those tokens behave similarly to meme tokens, but are comparatively more reliable, as the projects aim for a much longer run. 

As a result, a handful of selected tokens will outperform the altcoin market, offering extreme risk, but also enough liquidity to lock in gains. 

RAVE gets listed on KuCoin

The most recent RAVE rally followed the announcement of a new listing on KuCoin. RAVE may become more mature with time, though for now, the token is closely watched for its controlled supply. 

The mindshare of RAVE has risen to 0.1% based on Messari data, a feat for relatively new tokens. The market may mature with time, with smaller pumps and a more regular price. 

With a wider exchange representation and mindshare, RAVE still has to account for its highly controlled supply, where the top four wallets hold over 48% of all tokens.

Despite the risks, tokens similar to RAVE have been in demand, as traders prefer short-term risk rather than holding sideways-trading assets that have no significant price moves for months.

There’s a middle ground between leaving money in the bank and rolling the dice in crypto. Start with this free video on decentralized finance.