According to a press release published by cryptocurrency exchange OKX on Feb. 28, The firm said it seized 2,014,381 Tether (USDT) from five accounts suspected of engaging in “malicious market manipulation” of the Celestial (CELT) token. According to OKX, on February 26, the developers of Celestial announced the creation of a new blockchain game. Soon after, Celestial’s developers allegedly launched a social media campaign to promote the new game using OKX’s branding, which the company claimed was unauthorized. As a partial result of the activities, CELT token nearly doubled in value within two days before falling more than 50% in the last 24 hours to $0.002129 at press time.
In response to user accusations of insider trading, OKX explained that the exchange, through its subsidiary OKX Ventures, invested $100,000 in the Celestial GameFi project in September 2021. However, the exchange stated that the CELT tokens it received were deposited into OKX Ventures’ accounts “without any transaction,” and “no evidence was found” of insider trading involving OKX personnel based on their investigation.
Nonetheless, the exchange froze 714,381 USDT from five accounts suspected of market manipulation and claimed that Celestial would return 1.3 million USDT tied to such activities that have already left the exchange. According to OKX, the company will allocate 1 million USDT, along with 2,014,381 USDT obtained through the seizure, for a combined restitution of 3,014,381 USDT to be sent to affected users. Users who have purchased CELT tokens between February 25 and February 28 and have suffered losses will be eligible for this refund. Due to the complexity of the airdrop, OKX says that it will post the details in the next 48 hours.
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