SUI faces $400M insider trading allegations amid price rally

Traditional evils, such as insider trading, have found their way into decentralized finance. According to reports, SUI’s recent triple-digit rally has sparked allegations of insider selling among crypto investors.

SUI’s market performance poses questions

According to the October 14 on-chain data, SUI’s price performance reversed TON and is currently the best-performing token in 2024 (year-to-date). Sui (SUI) is currently worth $2.28, which is up 7.0% in the last 24 hours. The value of SUI today is 10.1% higher compared to its value seven days ago. 

SUI has risen over 120% during the past month. This spike has brought about allegations of insider selling despite the token’s bullish price action.

According to a post on X by pseudonymous crypto analyst Light, wallets associated with the SUI initial coin offering (ICO) have reportedly sold more than $400 million worth of tokens during the rally.

The analyst argues that “Insiders (including what is likely a large foundation wallet) have sold $400 million in tokens throughout this run-up, had already begun selling material amounts at much lower prices, and are even accelerating their selling at these more elevated levels.”

 If proven to be true, Sui’s betrayal to investors will “not bring comfort that the people building this ecosystem, the people who arguably know this token’s value best, are unloading hundreds of millions of dollars of the token into less informed buyers chasing momentum. As some of us have learned, whether now or later, as with most of these games where retail buys from insiders, there is only one ending.”

Insiders who hold a significant percentage of a crypto’s circulating supply can significantly impact the token’s price. Large-scale selling by these holders could result in negative pressure on market trade.