LAB Whales Transfer 18.5 Million LAB to Aster in Two Days, Causing 53% Price Drop
The "LAB Whales" entity transferred 18.5 million LAB to Aster within two days, leading to a 53% drop in LAB price.
This entity acquired over 196 million LAB from the LAB team in April 2026, subsequently transferring them in batches to Bitget recharge addresses. After proposing to 10 addresses in mid-May, it remained dormant for a long time and has now resumed transfers, currently holding about 81.5 million LAB.
On-chain detective ZachXBT questioned the LAB team's lack of transparency in private placements and over-the-counter transactions, as well as unilateral adjustments to ownership and supply concentration issues. He expressed disappointment at the trading platform's failure to curb suspected manipulation.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
ZachXBT has been tracking large suspicious fund flows on-chain for a long time, and this analysis of the LAB entity continues his ongoing supervision of the project's opaque private placement allocations and potential selling pressure.
In terms of capital flow, this entity obtained LAB through large allocations from the team, then operated in batches through exchanges and remained dormant before concentrating transfers, strategically reflecting the use of information and chip advantages for high-level cashing out, with Aster being a related or receiving party.
Similar to previous cases where concentrated selling by meme/emerging token projects or whales led to sharp declines, LAB is currently in a selling shock phase under high supply concentration, exposing the hidden dangers of early allocation mechanisms.
Essentially, this represents a transfer of pricing power: the high concentration of private placements allows a single entity to dominate price direction, with the mechanism lacking transparent lock-up and allocation arrangements, enabling a few holders to control pricing power, damaging retail investor confidence and accelerating capital outflow, while also pressuring platforms to enhance monitoring of large transactions and governance requirements for project parties.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
The more concentrated the private placement chips, the more vulnerable the price is to actions by a single entity.
A sudden transfer after a long dormancy is often a signal for whales to cash out, rather than a positive sign.
The cost of opaque allocations is ultimately borne by the secondary market buyers.