El_Profesor

$ICP Internet Computer (ICP) was one of the most anticipated blockchain projects of 2021. Backed by the Dfinity Foundation, ICP promised to revolutionize decentralized internet infrastructure. When the ICP token launched in May 2021, it was listed almost immediately on major exchanges, including FTX. The token’s value initially skyrocketed, hitting highs near $700 in its first days of trading, before crashing by over 90% within a short period. The sharp price collapse led to allegations that Alameda Research and FTX were involved in price manipulation.

1. Market Position and Listing Strategy

Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange, FTX, played a key role in ICP’s early market environment. When ICP launched, most of the circulating supply was controlled by institutional players and early investors, with limited tokens available for retail trading. Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm closely affiliated with FTX, reportedly acquired a large tranche of ICP tokens, potentially giving them substantial control over the liquidity and supply.

FTX listed ICP shortly after its launch, which was critical in concentrating liquidity on this one platform. Given the limited circulating supply, FTX had significant influence on ICP’s price formation, especially in the initial phase where price discovery was still ongoing. ICP’s listing on FTX was a gateway for price exposure but also made it vulnerable to manipulation, particularly through derivatives like perpetual swaps and futures that FTX specialized in.

2. Aggressive Selling and Shorting Strategies

Once listed on FTX, Alameda allegedly started aggressively selling large volumes of ICP, creating intense selling pressure. By flooding the market with tokens at a time when liquidity was thin, Alameda may have deliberately suppressed the token’s price.

At the same time, Alameda’s positioning in shorting ICP futures and perpetual contracts could have been another key element of the strategy. In a low-liquidity environment, short positions, combined with aggressive spot market selling, would drive down the token price, profiting from the resulting decline. This type of strategy is commonly used by institutional players to capitalize on an asset’s volatility or exploit inefficiencies in the market.

FTX’s derivative markets allowed leverage trading on ICP futures, which magnified the effect of even slight price movements. Alameda, with access to significant capital and influence over order flows, could take advantage of both the spot and derivative markets, moving the price sharply downward and profiting from their short positions in the process.

3. Control Over Circulating Supply and Market Depth

ICP’s price collapse wasn’t merely a result of normal market conditions. ICP’s circulating supply was extremely limited when trading began. The vast majority of tokens were still locked in vesting schedules for early investors, meaning the liquid supply on exchanges like FTX was constrained. This gave Alameda and other major institutional players outsized control over price action, particularly because they could easily overwhelm order books with sell orders due to the shallow liquidity.

Market depth on FTX was reportedly thin for ICP, amplifying the price impact of large orders. Alameda could use this to its advantage, placing substantial sell orders on the spot market while executing shorts in the futures market, triggering cascading liquidations of over-leveraged positions. Given the leverage available on FTX, this likely triggered forced liquidations of long positions, driving the price down further.

4. Market Panic and Liquidity Crisis

The rapid decline in ICP’s price soon led to market panic. Retail traders, who had bought into the hype around ICP’s launch, were trapped as the token’s value plummeted. Many of these traders were highly leveraged through FTX’s futures contracts, and as prices continued to fall, margin calls and forced liquidations followed, adding fuel to the fire.

By engineering a steep decline, allegedly through aggressive shorting and spot selling, Alameda and other institutional players may have taken advantage of retail traders and those betting on ICP’s long-term success. This created a liquidity crisis, with panic sellers flooding the market, further exacerbating the sell-off.

5. Price Manipulation Allegations and Unethical Conduct

The core of the allegations against Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda is that they deliberately manipulated the ICP price to profit from short positions while knowingly exploiting the vulnerabilities of the retail market. Alameda’s ability to place large sell orders, while shorting the token simultaneously, allowed them to profit from ICP’s decline both directly and indirectly through FTX’s derivatives market.

Moreover, there are accusations that FTX’s platform mechanics may have been designed to exacerbate these conditions. Some critics argue that FTX’s risk management systems, particularly how it handled margin calls and liquidations, could have been exploited to create a feedback loop of forced liquidations, further driving down the price.

Conclusion

The ICP price manipulation allegations revolve around Sam Bankman-Fried’s control over both FTX and Alameda Research, enabling a coordinated attack on ICP’s price. Through aggressive selling, strategic shorting, and exploiting market depth, Alameda may have engineered a sharp price decline to profit from both spot and derivative markets.

While these allegations remain under investigation, the case highlights the potential for market manipulation in the crypto space, especially when a few large players hold significant power over both liquidity and exchange infrastructure.

More details here:
https://cryptoleaks.info/case-no-1