Key Takeaways:
- ZachXBT alleged that Ashcrypto ran several pump-and-dump schemes on illiquid CEX-listed altcoins.
- Evidence shows Ashcrypto called ROYA publicly, then told followers he was “holding 100%” while selling.
- The allegation is amongst other similar influencer-based manipulations that have continued into 2026.
The ROYA Incident
Ashcrypto, who has over 2.1 million followers on X, made a public call for ROYA, the native token of decentralized lending platform Royale Finance, on a centralized exchange ( CEX). Within hours, he acted puzzled and messaged “who the f is selling like this” on his premium investment channel, while separately telling followers that his team was “holding 100% of our roya + buying more here.”
This pattern of calling a token, projecting confidence publicly while followers buy in, then exiting is a clear pump-and-dump structure that has been executed many times before (often amplified through social media rather than onchain coordination alone).
ZachXBT made clear that ROYA is not an isolated case, stating that Ashcrypto “ran similar pump-and-dump schemes for illiquid alt tokens on CEXs” repeatedly. Illiquid, centralized-exchange-listed tokens are particularly vulnerable to this structure since small order sizes can move prices meaningfully, making it easier for a large-following influencer to generate real short-term demand from a single public call.
A Larger Scheme at Hand
Earlier in 2026, the investigator flagged the RAVE token scandal, in which a coordinated group allegedly controlled more than 90% of RAVE’s circulating supply and orchestrated a 6,000% price surge followed by a 95% crash that wiped $6 billion in 48 hours. That investigation prompted formal probes from Binance and Bitget.
Similarly, earlier in May, ZachXBT flagged a U.S. law firm (Gerstein Harrow) for filing claims to seize $71 million in ethereum frozen after the April 2026 KelpDAO exploit, using a 2015 legal judgment to jump ahead of actual hack victims in any recovery queue.
The Ashcrypto allegations operate at a smaller scale than the RAVE scandal but follow the same core principle, wherein social media reach is used as a price-moving mechanism that benefits the caller at the direct expense of followers who act on the recommendation. Ashcrypto has not responded to any of the allegations at the time of writing.
