How long will this wave of volatility last?
It has been nearly 220 days since it peaked, compared to 252 days in the previous cycle of the 50K-70K range, which also seems to be approaching a critical point.
I'm not afraid of your rise, nor your fall, I'm just afraid of market manipulators making things difficult—if there's going to be a change, do it decisively, rise up, and I will accompany you to the end!
The sharp drop in this round was caused by abnormal on-chain activities surrounding the ZKJ/KOGE trading pair, which quickly drew widespread attention and controversy after Binance issued a liquidity contraction warning.
According to CoinMarketCap data, as of the time of writing, ZKJ is priced at $0.3328, with a 45% drop in daily trading volume, and the market cap has fallen to $1.8 billion.
Although the Polyhedra team has clarified multiple times, market sentiment has been significantly shaken. Some investors compare this incident to historical collapses like LUNA, raising serious doubts about the project's stability.
What triggered the collapse of ZKJ?
The chain reaction of an 83% crash began on June 15, when three major whale wallets suddenly withdrew about $7 million of KOGE and ZKJ from the Binance Alpha pool. One large withdrawal directly depleted KOGE/USDT liquidity, triggering market panic, and funds quickly flowed into ZKJ, further collapsing the already weak liquidity, causing ZKJ to plummet 60% in just 90 minutes.
Data shows that ZKJ's turnover rate reached 18.40 (trading volume/market cap), a typical sign of market imbalance: extreme volatility, very low liquidity, and a potential crash at any moment.
Polyhedra subsequently responded on X:
This sharp price volatility is due to abnormal on-chain transactions occurring in a short time for the ZKJ/KOGE trading pair... We emphasize that the project's fundamentals remain robust.
However, what this incident exposes is structural risk:
Major unlocking is approaching: On June 19, 15.5 million ZKJ will be unlocked (approximately $4.5 million at current prices), triggering a rush to sell, with some early investors suspected of liquidating in advance.
Severe concentration of holdings: The top ten addresses hold 68.6% of the tokens, creating a significant selling pressure risk; if they exit collectively, the market could easily spiral out of control.
Cancellation of incentives worsens the situation: On June 17, Binance announced the termination of the Alpha Points program, removing trading incentives for KOGE/ZKJ, further exacerbating liquidity drying up.
The entire process exposes not only market panic but also a typical case of the fragility of incentive-driven project mechanisms. ZKJ's flash crash may just be a warning signal for larger structural issues.
A familiar script: The plunge of OM reappears with the shadow of LUNA.
This is not the first time the crypto market has experienced such a dramatic crash. The leading RWA project Mantra ($OM ) fell over 97% from a high of $9.04, and its current price is only about $0.20, with a market cap evaporating nearly $6 billion.
There are market voices questioning whether the OM team controls up to 90% of the token supply and whether collective selling behavior exists. Although the official denial has been made, to appease market sentiment, the project team has initiated a token buyback and burn plan to reduce circulation and stabilize prices.
However, some analysts warn that the current trend may just be a 'dead cat bounce' (DCB)—a brief rebound followed by further decline, easily luring retail investors to take over in a false recovery, falling back into a downward trap.
The ghost of $LUNA seems to still be lingering, and the model of 'high control + incentive-driven' is being repeatedly tested for its fragility by the market.
