Bubblemaps Alleges Coordinated Wallet Activity

Blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps has accused decentralized lending protocol Edel Finance of orchestrating a “snipe” to acquire 30% of its own EDEL token supply at launch. The platform claims that wallets linked to the Edel team purchased the tokens, now valued at $11 million, immediately as trading went live.

In the crypto space, sniping refers to using automated trading bots to buy a newly listed token the moment it becomes available, often ahead of the general public, to secure a lower entry price. Bubblemaps alleges that just hours before the EDEL launch, approximately 60 wallets were funded in a coordinated manner through Binance.

According to the analysis, these funds were moved through a layer of new wallets before purchasing the token supply. Bubblemaps further claimed that half of the acquired EDEL was kept in the primary wallets, while the other half was distributed among 100 secondary wallets funded via the MEXC exchange. The platform asserted that a list of these secondary wallets was included in the token’s contract creation code, creating a “clear link between the team and the snipers.”

EDEL, which launched on November 12, currently has a market capitalization of around $14.9 million. However, its price has fallen by 62% over the last week. Edel Finance aims to integrate traditional stocks into onchain lending and is backed by former employees from major firms like JPMorgan and State Street.

Co-Founder Denies Allegations Amid Scrutiny

Edel Finance co-founder James Sherborne responded to the accusations, stating that the acquisition was part of a planned strategy. He claimed the team actually acquired about 60% of the total supply and placed the tokens into a vesting contract, as outlined in their official documents.

However, the token economics documents shared by Sherborne show a team allocation of only 12.7%, subject to a 36-month vesting schedule. This discrepancy drew a sharp rebuke from Bubblemaps, which called the explanation a “Hayden Davis defense,” referencing the controversial creator behind several memecoins that crashed after insiders held a majority of the supply.

Bubblemaps challenged Sherborne’s defense, stating, “If you were genuine, you’d have allocated the supply upfront based on your tokenomics.” The analytics firm also added that the 50% EDEL supply in the vesting schedule came directly from the token deployer and was unrelated to the tokens acquired in the snipe.