Behind the Solana Celebrity Token: Project Team and Insider Trading Feast
Original Article Title: "Behind Solana Celebrity Tokens: Project Teams and Insider Trading Feast"
Original Article Author: M7 Research
Lately, with the launch of $TRUMP on the Solana blockchain, a wave of celebrity token issuance has emerged. Tokens like $MELANIA, $RYAN, $ENRON, $LIBRA, and others have appeared, and the Meteora platform has quickly become the preferred issuance platform for these high-profile projects. These token projects exhibit astonishing similarities: extremely high FDV, exaggerated trading volume, and drastic price fluctuations. At first glance, these tokens have gained market attention due to the celebrity effect, but a deeper analysis reveals that behind this lies a carefully designed wealth extraction mechanism.
Meteora Platform: Innovative Mechanisms Turned into Manipulation Tools
The Meteora platform has gained favor with its DLMM model, which has a lower slippage and flexible liquidity management mechanism. However, these innovative features intended to improve capital efficiency have been misused, becoming a profit tool for project teams and insider traders.
Operational Pattern of Systematic Manipulation
In a typical celebrity token issuance, project teams usually follow these steps:
· Pre-minting the tokens
· Setting up a DLMM trading pool on Meteora
· Injecting trading liquidity
Observations show that project teams often pre-mint the tokens and establish a DLMM pool with the USDC pair, only injecting one-sided liquidity. This means that at the opening, a large number of limit sell orders have already been pre-set to await liquidity inflows, while the zero slippage feature of DLMM trading bins further amplifies the project teams' profit potential.
Insider Trading Analysis: Precision Timing and Systematic Operations
In cases like $MELANIA, $ENRON, $LIBRA, insider traders have early access to the contract addresses (CA), trading pool information, and opening times. This is specifically manifested in:
· $LIBRA created the token on the 14th and only created the trading pool 20 minutes before the 15th open:
https://solscan.io/tx/3vtogCe5Q52iUYbY6CLRTV3RUf2ggSDoAkPtCYpJrvpvdoqx71mJbS5zgwvze7CDHTBzNohbg4eJiFPw5kUnu5Dh
· $ENRON created the token on January 25 and set up the Meteora pool only one hour before trading on February 4
https://solscan.io/tx/ydzeZfhtfM4vwU2dH7ALB3acavcNBh5oTSuPgCCBPonoQvm4AbCo5P2Rw4WqyWUvRJj4D3mUN68JzTK1uwqF8Ej
According to GMGN data, $LIBRA saw nearly $4.5 million flow in within 2 seconds of opening.
A trader (address: 8bZsrR5aRHDZYkWPLQoDFZUKsHCTeJ8uqhPnoMn7baG3) sniped the top spot with a single $1.4 million trade, initiating 170 transactions in the opening block, all executing at the moment trading began. Given Meteora typically launches pools with only one-sided liquidity each day, such a large and precise entry suggests insider information.
Profit Model Breakdown
This sniping trader followed a systematic profit strategy:
· Quickly converted 1.8 million tokens to $530,000
· Distributed the remaining tokens to 8 sub-accounts for distribution
Using the largest sub-account (address: DmzEMt7XHwA1tZM5d1XBGvTFWoUpTLutpR5d8cMxNghs) as an example:
· Sold 750,000 tokens every 20 seconds, repeating this process 14 times
Added the remaining tokens as one-sided liquidity to the $LIBRA-$SOL pair
· Harvested 5,500 SOL just 7 minutes later
Within 5 hours of opening, converted all LIBRA and acquired SOL to USDC, profiting $5 million
Ultimately, the sniper account profited a total of $17 million through this batch dump method.
Meanwhile, the project team's gains were even more significant. The developer address (DefcyKc4yAjRsCLZjdxWuSUzVohXtLna9g22y3pBCm2z) also utilized the single-sided liquidity mechanism, adding the token to the Meteora pool, with fee income alone reaching $10 million.
Market Impact and Warning
While the $LIBRA case was highly publicized due to its high visibility, from $ENRON, $MELANIA to $RYAN, they all exhibit a similar operation mode. Investors unknowingly fell into a fund harvesting trap of "celebrity + Meteora + dump truck." The high liquidity mechanism of the Meteora platform has been abused by the project team and insider traders, severely overdrawing the liquidity and investor confidence in the cryptocurrency market.
About M7 Research
M7 Research is based in the on-chain investigation field, combining deep blockchain expertise with forensic analysis, dedicated to exposing market manipulation behavior. Through detailed technical analysis and data-driven insights, our team brings transparency to the cryptocurrency market. Adhering to the blockchain's fundamental principle of "Code is Law," we are committed to providing actionable intelligence to market participants, promoting a more transparent trading environment.
Note: All transactions cited in this article can be publicly verified on the blockchain. While we present data objectively, we also encourage readers to independently verify the evidence presented in the article.
This article is a contributed submission and does not represent the views of BlockBeats.
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