Following Binance’s delisting announcement, Alpaca Finance (ALPACA) has experienced a staggering quadruple-digit price rally over the past week.
This counterintuitive market behavior has sparked intense discussion among analysts and traders. Many experts suggest that this could be a case of market manipulation.
Why Did ALPACA’s Price Pump Despite Binance Delisting?
On April 24, Binance announced the delisting of four tokens, including ALPACA. While the value of all other tokens declined, ALPACA’s price shot up. BeInCrypto data showed that the token appreciated by over 1,000% over the past seven days.
Nevertheless, the momentum appears to have slowed somewhat as ALPACA nears its delisting on May 2. Over the past day, its value has dipped by 34.5%. At the time of writing, it was trading at $0.55.
Yet, ALPACA’s unusual rise has grabbed the attention of market watchers.
“ALPACA is the worst crypto manipulation I’ve seen in recent times. How do you pump a token from 0.02 to 0.3 then sell it back to 0.07 and pump it from 0.07 to 1.27 then back down to 0.3,” a user wrote.
Analyst Budhil Vyas called it a “textbook liquidity hunting.” He explained that large market players, or whales, initially drove the price down by 80%, triggering panic and liquidations. Then, just before the 2-hour delisting deadline, they rapidly pumped the price by 15X.
Vyas believes this was a strategic move to extract liquidity from the market, as these whales were desperate to secure positions before the asset was removed from the exchange. He further emphasized that no real accumulation was taking place.
The analyst said the price surge was purely tactical. It was designed to drain whatever liquidity was left in the market.
“This is crypto in 2025. Stay alert,” Vyas cautioned.
Meanwhile, Johannes also provided a detailed breakdown of the mechanics behind such price manipulations. In the latest X (formerly Twitter) post, he elaborated that sophisticated parties exploit the low liquidity that follows delisting announcements.
The strategy involves dominating a large portion of the token’s supply. The traders take large positions in perpetual futures, betting on the token’s price rising, as these contracts are more liquid than spot markets.
They then buy the token on the spot market, increasing demand and price. With most of the supply controlled, there is little selling pressure, allowing the price to spike.
Once the delisting occurs, the perpetual futures positions are forced to close with minimal slippage. This enables traders to lock in substantial profits.
DeFi analyst Ignas also weighed in on the situation. According to Ignas, this pattern has been observed before, especially during delisting announcements on the South Korean exchange Upbit.
In fact, he noted that delistings used to receive similar, if not more, attention from speculators as new listings in the country.
“A delisting window requires closing down deposits, so with an inflow of new tokens restricted, degens pump the price to get the last hooray before an inevitable dump,” he wrote.
Ignas referenced Bitcoin Gold (BTG) as an example. The altcoin’s price increased by 112% after Upbit announced its delisting, showing that this price-pumping behavior still occurs.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has raised concerns that the United States’ growing support for dollar-backed stablecoins could threaten Europe’s financial stability and monetary sovereignty.
These concerns come as stablecoin regulation gains traction in the US. US national banks and federal savings associations can offer services without prior regulatory approval.
EU Warns US Stablecoins Could Threaten Euro Stability
Pierre Gramegna emphasized the urgency of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) digital euro initiative as a countermeasure. As the Managing Director of the ESM, Gramegna urged expedition to preserve the country’s monetary sovereignty and financial stability.
“It could eventually reignite foreign and US tech giant’s plans to launch mass payment solutions based on dollar-denominated stablecoins. And, if this were to be successful, it could affect the euro area’s monetary sovereignty and financial stability,” Gramegna stated at a Eurogroup meeting.
The EU is advancing its digital euro project to safeguard its financial independence. The ECB has long warned that reliance on US-backed stablecoins could weaken the euro.
He echoes recent remarks by ECB official Piero Cipollone during an early February interview. Then, Cipollone indicated that the Trump administration’s support for stablecoins would likely accelerate legislation surrounding the digital euro. Such an outcome, he said, would position it as a necessary alternative.
“The US and Europe have differing views on stablecoins. The Trump administration sees them as a tool to strengthen the US dollar’s global presence, whereas the ECB fears they could destabilize Europe’s financial system,” Cipollone explained.
The ESM supports the ECB’s digital euro project and the European Commission’s efforts to revise the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) directive. Gramegna emphasized that these measures are critical in preventing a scenario in which European consumers and businesses become overly reliant on US-backed stablecoins.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has also advocated for stablecoin regulation to solidify their role in financial markets. Meanwhile, new rules now permit US banks to offer stablecoin services, signaling further integration of stablecoins into traditional finance (TradFi).
These developments could accelerate the dominance of US-backed stablecoins in global transactions. Reports suggest that even Bank of America (BoA) is exploring launching its own stablecoin, while Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire is pushing for mandatory US registration of stablecoin issuers.
The debate over stablecoins mirrors broader geopolitical concerns. The dollar’s dominance in digital payments could grow as US financial institutions integrate stablecoins into their services. This could limit the euro’s influence.
European policymakers advocate for a strong regulatory framework and an accelerated timeline for the digital euro’s rollout to counter this.
The state of security across the crypto and blockchain space has changed significantly in the past few months. Traditional smart contracts exploited or brute force attacks on blockchain networks are being superseded by crypto scams like rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes.
BeInCrypto spoke with a spokesperson from security firm CertiK to understand how blockchain and security threats are evolving and how projects and users can safeguard against future exploits.
Social Media Hacks on the Rise
Over the past few months, the crypto community has seen a rise in social media-related hacks. This increasingly common tendency has pivoted away from the orchestration of more sophisticated blockchain attacks that have traditionally plagued headlines.
Whereas smart contract exploits or blockchain hacks require more knowledge, hackers have found an easier avenue by targeting social media accounts instead.
X (formerly Twitter) has quickly become the social media platform of choice among Web3 hackers.
Social Media is Now a Prime Target for Web3 Hackers
After US President Donald Trump launched his meme coin only two days before assuming office, hackers began to take advantage of the hype to hack high-profile X accounts and convince followers to invest in scam meme coins.
Last month, anonymous hackers took over the X account of the former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to promote MALAYSIA, a fake meme coin promoted as the country’s official cryptocurrency.
The post was removed within an hour, but the damage was done. Analysis shows that these hackers were probably related to the infamous Russian Evil Corp and that they stole $1.7 million in this rug pull.
The MALAYSIA token scam happened only two weeks after hackers exploited former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s social media account. In that instance, scammers promoted the BRAZIL token, which rose over 10,000% in minutes, netting the scammers over $1.3 million.
These scams have also affected technological companies.
Attacks on Tech Companies
In December, AI research and development company Anthropic also saw its X account hacked. A fraudulent post claimed that a fake token called CLAUDE would incentivize AI and crypto projects and included a wallet address for investors.
Attackers managed to collect around $100,000 from speculative investors.
These situations also highlight a broader issue of weak account security on social media platforms. As a result, even prominent individuals are susceptible to security breaches that directly affect the crypto community.
TRUMP Meme Coin Launch Was a Catalyst For Crypto Scams
“Now is the time to talk about the fact that large-scale political coins cross a further line: they are not just sources of fun, whose harm is at most contained to mistakes made by voluntary participants, they are vehicles for unlimited political bribery, including from foreign nation states,” Buterin claimed.
Buterin highlighted the tokens’ role in enabling scams and political corruption in crypto and blamed a regulatory loophole former SEC Chair Gary Gensler created for allowing bad actors to exploit governance tokens.
However, these crypto scams extend beyond political themes.
Growth of Social Engineering Exploits
A week after Buterin cautioned against political meme coins, a Coinbase user lost $11.5 million after falling victim to a social engineering scam on Base.
Crypto sleuth ZackXBT uncovered the exploit, pointing out that this incident is part of a growing trend, with multiple Coinbase users suffering similar losses. He also estimates that crypto scams of this nature have drained at least $150 million from Coinbase customers.
“Coinbase has a serious fraud problem. I just uncovered many more recent thefts from Coinbase users. The $150 million stolen from Coinbase users in a year is just from thefts I independently confirmed. So it’s more than likely multiples of this number,” ZachXBT stated.
In social engineering scams, attackers use phishing emails, spoofed calls, and other deceptive tactics to trick victims into revealing private keys or login credentials. Once they gain access, they drain wallets, move funds, and take control of accounts.
For CertiK, these situations stipulate the need for stronger security measures.
Addressing these security challenges is crucial as new crypto projects increase exponentially.
Prioritizing Proactive Security in a Rapidly Growing Industry
The Web3 sector is experiencing consistent growth, marked by a surge in new crypto project launches. This innovative momentum is expected to continue, but it’s also fueling security concerns.
Notably, the increasing rate of scams and hacks in the first three months of 2025 makes it clear that security efforts are struggling to keep up with innovation.
A study by Precedence Research estimates the Web 3.0 market will expand from USD 4.62 billion in 2025 to approximately USD 99.75 billion by 2034, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.18% during that period.
Predicted market size of Web3 in the next ten years. Source: Precedence Research.
Yet, CertiK believes that project developers are pushing security considerations toward the end of the priority list.
As the Web3 ecosystem evolves, a proactive and adaptive security approach is critical. Prioritizing both blockchain integrity and social media vigilance will be essential for safeguarding the growing Web3 ecosystem.
The battle against these exploits requires a future where security is not an afterthought but a foundational pillar of every Web3 project and user interaction.
