The launch of the SatoshiVM (SAVM) token has been one of the most controversial events in crypto this week.
The newly launched token from Ape Terminal plunged by over 30%, and there are different reasons of what could have gone wrong.
What is Happening with Ape Terminal?
Ape Terminal is a decentralized exchange (DEX) launchpad for crypto projects planning to roll out their token through an Initial DEX Offering.
So, one of the X accounts making the rounds came from Mac. He claims to be one of SatoshiVM’s advisers. Mac, in his tweet, pointed fingers at the fundraising platform Ape Terminal, accusing the team of orchestrating a scam. He considers himself a friend of the Ape Terminal team “a friend” and revealed he introduced the launchpad to the SatoshiVM team.
A person I considered a friend and ate dinner with a week ago has lied to my face, betrayed and scammed me, several IDOs and the crypto community.@theapeterminal has scammed all of the IDO launches on their platform
200,000 wallets applied to win the IDOs and 10 winners got…
— Mac 🐺 (@MacnBTC) January 24, 2024
However, things turned out ugly. Mac claims the IDO platform played foul during the recent SatoshiVM IDO by awarding all 210,000 SAVM token allocations to Ape Terminal team members rather than selecting from a pool of entrants.
Also, Mac wrote: “Ape Terminal has scammed all of the IDO launches on their platform. 200,000 wallets were applied to win the IDOs, and 10 winners were chosen per IDO. All of the winners were the Ape Terminal team. On top of that, they took a 25% fee that they also kept.
Mac further revealed that Ape Terminal returned the $SAVM tokens to the SatoshiVM team. However, this was after it had allegedly made significant profits by selling the winning wallets.
Remember SAVM and how it was shilled all over your feed? "I made 100x!"
Turns out it was an elaborate pump and dump. @MacnBTC and @theapeterminal are blaming each other for it.
Either way, a few friends made millions on this coin and I hear ROOM was a previous "project". pic.twitter.com/PpXcX3GfV6
— Duo Nine ⚡ YCC (@DU09BTC) January 25, 2024
Ape Terminal Rejects the Accusations
Interestingly, the platform has refuted Mac’s claims and has reportedly threatened legal action for slander. Mac is unfazed and maintains that all of the data can be independently verified on the blockchain. He also plans on disclosing the results.
The launchpad also accused Mac of making “millions in profit” from the sale, claiming it never sold fees from SAVM. The teams wrote that “Mac owns huge amounts of unlocked SAVM, sniped liquidity, and gave tokens to his friends,” adding that “after profiting $10M+ in a day from $SAVM sales, Mac needs a scapegoat and chose us.”
FUD, MacnBTC, and SAVM —
SAVM is a project founded by a KOL named MacnBTC.
SAVM is a bittersweet event for Ape Terminal. While we are happy it offered a good opportunity for our community, it, unfortunately, enabled a KOL to harvest his own community for millions in profits.…
— Ape Terminal (@theapeterminal) January 24, 2024
On the other hand, Crypto advisor bx1 shared an analysis of Ape Terminal’s IDO winner wallets. And his findings seem to corroborate Mac’s claims of foul play. The results showed that only five of the ten winning wallets received $1000 funding from MEXC in an incredibly short amount of time. This showed similar selling patterns.
Given the huge number of entrants, the likelihood of these particular wallets winning was small. This adds credence to the claims of manipulation and deception by the launchpad. Other crypto experts have joined the brewing conflict.
Also, crypto investigator ZachXBT claims both the platform and MacnBTC are guilty of dishonesty. Recall that ZachXBT had previously warned that individuals “shilling” the SAVM launch possibly had an allocation and were likely to dump their tokens.
Do not take sides both Ape Terminal and Mac are guilty of acting dishonest towards their users/followers
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) January 25, 2024
The dispute has led many within the crypto community to push for accountability and transparency in the DeFi space.
