YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — The Manta Network, known for its native MANTA token, continues to face serious allegations of money laundering, particularly following its listing on popular cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and South Korean exchange Bithumb. The controversy arose after one user flagged a transaction involving the transfer of 2 million MANTA tokens to the wallet of the network’s Korean Business Development (BD) representative.
What led to the MANTA scam & Money Laundering allegations?
The questionable transaction occurred on the same day Binance listed MANTA on its exchange. As the South Korea-based Definalist pointed out, Manta Network deposited 2 million tokens, accounting for over 75% of Bithumb’s total circulation volume for the MANTA, to the exchange deposit wallet.
Not even 5 minutes had passed since the deposit, and the MANTA price surged on the exchange, reaching the $230 mark. Following the price jump, Manta Network’s Korean Business Development (BD)
The concerns escalated when it was revealed that these 2 million MANTA tokens, which accounted for over 75% of Bithumb’s total circulation volume for the token, were deposited into Bithumb’s deposit wallet. Within just five minutes of its listing, the price of MANTA on Bithumb skyrocketed to an astonishing $230.
Following this surge, the BD representative allegedly sold all 2 million MANTA tokens, fetching $5.16 million. They then converted this to 2,094.7 Ethereum (ETH) tokens and transferred them to their wallet.
This suspicious activity raised a massive red flag, leading to allegations of scams and illicit practices. As some users pointed out, South Korea has a strict anti-money laundering policy. A violation of this could have severe consequences for the project.
MANTA network issues a clarification
In response to these scam and money laundering allegations, Manta Network issued a statement hoping to clarify the alleged confusion. In the post, it claimed that the sale stemmed from a pre-allocated portion of the project’s Ecosystem/Community funds.
“Korea has emerged as a pivotal market for Manta Network. Korean-led projects are currently driving a substantial portion of the network’s Total Value Locked (TVL) and on-chain activities, signaling the region’s vital role in the growth of the network’s ecosystem… Recognizing this, Manta Network is funding a branch in Korea,”
the network announced.
However, this explanation has failed to satisfy the concerns of many investors fully. Some have called for greater transparency and clarity regarding MANTA token’s allocation criteria and planned use of these funds.
Earlier, hackers compromised Manta Network’s Twitter and posted false airdrop information. Moreover, reports emerged that the Manta Pacific chain experienced an RPC attack on its servers.
Kenny Li, the Co-Founder of p0x labs, the cryptographic development team behind the Manta Network, clarified the matter on X (formerly Twitter).
“We have come across many challenges including this one, and we will continue to get through those challenges together as a larger and larger community. We know the community has mixed feelings right now, and we are very thankful to those that have reached out to support and help us get through this. Rest assured, we are not going anywhere,”
Li said.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, MANTA’s price hovers around $2.37, according to portfolio management platform CoinStats. Trading on Binance, Bithumb, and KuCoin, MANTA has a fully diluted market cap of $2.4 billion.
However, despite the allegations, the community is confident that the token will surge in value in the weeks to come.
As the situation continues to develop, we will have to wait to see the impact of the recent events on investor confidence and MANTA’s future in the Korean market.
