Binance Launches Investigation Into Potential Memecoin Insider Trading, Offering Up to $5,000,000 Reward for Information

Binance says it conducted an internal investigation after a trader made staggeringly large gains on a recently listed memecoin.

The top global crypto exchange announced on Saturday that it was listing the Book of Meme (BOME), a Solana (SOL)-based coin launched by the art producer DarkFarms, who specializes in pieces based on Pepe the Frog, a character often used for various memes.

In a new post on the social media platform X, Binance says it immediately launched an investigation after hearing discussions in the crypto community that someone with insider knowledge accumulated BOME before the exchange’s listing.

According to Binance, preliminary investigation results indicate that the entity in question has no connection to the exchange, though the company notes it still plans to conduct an “in-depth” investigation into the matter.

“If you have any reports involving currency listing and other corruption, or if we verify that Binance team members are corrupt, we will provide you with a reward of US$100,000 to US$5 million while keeping your identity confidential.”

The crypto tracking firm Lookonchain noted an unknown wallet withdrew $2.3 million worth of Solana to buy BOME shortly before the Binance listing. The asset surged 250% hours after the exchange’s announcement.

The crypto exchange KuCoin listed BOME last Friday.

BOME is trading at $0.0093 at time of writing. The 174th-ranked crypto asset by market cap has retraced after its Binance price bump and is down more than 49% in the past 24 hours.

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