The native token of disgraced crypto broker Voyager Digital has soared in what appears to be a new effort to push its price up apparently inspired by the recent strangling of short positions (short squeeze) from CEL.
On July 13, Voyager’s VGX token soared 178% to hit an intraday high of $0.891 before falling back to about $0.559, according to data from CoinGecko. At press time, it had recovered ground to $0.717.
The rise in price has coincided with the appearance of a hashtag on Twitter called “#PumpVGXJuly18”as well as with the formation of a Telegram group called “Voyager Community Recovery Channel”, which had more than 2,100 members at the time of writing.
The token has gained over 400% since the start of the week as speculators seem to be jumping on the latest craze to make a quick buck.
This week’s VGX rally is a respite from a steady downtrend for the crypto token this year, shedding nearly 80% since the start of 2022. It is also down 94.3% from its January 2018 all-time high of $12.47.
On July 6, Voyager Digital announced its restructuring plan, which would include the issuance of Voyager tokens to customers who had suffered losses following the suspension of operations earlier in the month. That same day, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing liquidity problems stemming from outstanding debts of Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
The latest twist in this novel came when a federal judge in New York froze the remaining assets of 3AC on July 12. Another part of the restructuring plan includes any asset recovery from 3AC, which could also partly explain the increase in the perceived value of the VGX token.
The unknown cryptocurrency company MetaFormLabs, which beginning the move on Twitter to drive up the VGX price on July 9, has promised to bail out Voyager with it. On July 13, the company detailed its token price target and the amounts pledged for the rescue package.
“We have set a new target range of $5-8. Currently, we have $50,000,000 internally and $67,000,000 pledged by well-known crypto enthusiasts.”
On July 14, he claimed to have $135 million in funding for the rescue package, which will be fully announced on July 18, coinciding with his plans to drive up the price of VGX.
1 thing is clear.
Don’t say we didn’t give you any warnings of our intentions.#PumpVGXJuly18
Jul 18 2022 @ 2PM PST
We will stop sharing exact amounts we have pledged.
Current total ready for July 18: 135,000.00USD+Whoever shorts will probably get swallowed whole.
NFA
— MetaFormLabs | #PumpVGXJuly18 (@MetaFormLabs) July 13, 2022
After the initial rally, which began on July 13 when prices rose from $0.15, MetaFormLabs he claimed that this had nothing to do with them.
“Where there’s green there are vultures preying on low entrances. #PumpVGXJulio18 will take place as scheduled on July 18 at 2pm PST. Today’s movement wasn’t us, we didn’t even start.”
The plan has been met with a healthy dose of skepticism from the crypto enthusiast community on Twitter.
Regarding #VGX and the “Pump $VGX“going around…
Know what you are getting into. A lot of supply is locked up on Voyager which can skew pricing. $VGX optimism can potentially help Voyager make customers whole, but know the risk you are taking.
— shingolavine.eth (@shingolavine) July 13, 2022
As for VGX and the “Pump VGX” out there…
You have to know what you’re getting into. A lot of supply is locked up on Voyager which can skew prices. VGX’s optimism can potentially help Voyager get customers reinstated, but you have to know the risk you’re taking.
No rescue plan was mentioned in the bill from Voyager’s official Twitter.
Cointelegraph contacted MetaFormLabs for more details in response to your “mission”, but received no response at the time of publishing this article.
Meanwhile, VGX was already falling and had lost 21% since its initial rally yesterday. A similar scenario occurred with the new Terra LUNA tokens, which spiked above $10 a couple of days after their launch in late May, only to drop to around $2 a week later.
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