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- Bitget has launched legal action against eight accounts accused of manipulating VOXEL token trading, allegedly profiting over $20 million.
- Trading suspensions and investigations followed abnormal activity in VOXEL/USDT futures, with Bitget pledging to airdrop any recovered funds to users.
- Bitget leadership criticized Hyperliquid over risk management failures amid broader concerns about market manipulation across crypto exchanges.
Bitget has launched legal action against eight accounts accused of orchestrating a large-scale manipulation of VOXEL token trading, resulting in illicit profits exceeding $20 million.
The Seychelles-based exchange, a rising player in the digital asset world, announced on Saturday that it had issued legal letters to the alleged perpetrators, whom it describes as members of a “professional arbitrage group.” Jiayin Xie, Bitget’s Chinese market representative, confirmed the move via a post on X (formerly Twitter), promising further transparency as investigations unfold.
Furthermore, Bitget has vowed that any recovered funds will be redistributed to its users through an airdrop. The exchange is seeking to reassure its community after a week of turbulence.
The controversy stems from an extraordinary surge in VOXEL’s trading activity on April 20. VOXEL is the native token of the Polygon-based strategy game. Currently, Voxies is trading at $ 0.075736 with a 24-hour trading volume of $ 87.71M and a market cap of $ 18.44M. The VOXEL price increased by 3.52% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Bitget Suspends Accounts Amid VOXEL Futures Frenzy
At the height of the frenzy, Bitget flagged “abnormal activity” in VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures trading, highlighting unusual volumes and volatile price movements. As a precaution, the exchange swiftly suspended certain accounts from trading, deposits, and withdrawals. Bitget has not yet disclosed the identities behind the suspicious trades. Bitget has not yet detailed the specific technical vulnerabilities that may have been exploited. The broader user base reportedly remained unaffected.
“We will release a complete report on the VOXEL incident as soon as possible,” Xie stated, adding that the platform remains committed to maintaining the integrity of its trading systems.
Moreover, speculation has been rife within the crypto community. Traders on X suggested the incident may have involved a malfunction in Bitget’s market-making technology. Comparisons were even drawn to casinos retaliating against gamblers who hit jackpots, reflecting the contentious nature of the exchange’s response.
Bitget CEO Blasts Hyperliquid After VOXEL Incident
Meanwhile, Chinese-speaking crypto circles circulated comments from Bitget CEO Gracey Chen, who criticized decentralized exchange Hyperliquid’s handling of a recent exploit as “immature, unethical, and unprofessional,” cautioning that poor risk management could lead platforms down the path of collapsed exchange FTX.
Hyperliquid recently delisted its JELLY perpetual futures market after a liquidation exploit in March. Separately, Binance expelled two market makers linked to abrupt price crashes in GPS, SHELL, and MOVE tokens. The move highlights wider concerns around market manipulation across centralized and decentralized platforms.
Despite the mounting scrutiny, Xie emphasized that “all the major market makers in the world have settled in Bitget,” though, citing confidentiality agreements, he declined to name them.
As Bitget prepares to publish its full report, the incident underscores the growing pains faced by exchanges navigating the volatile and rapidly evolving crypto trading environment. Users and industry observers alike will be watching closely to see whether Bitget’s promised transparency and restitution will restore confidence. Alternatively, the episode may signal deeper structural issues yet to surface.
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