Trove Markets ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Torches $11M; Token Crashes 98% Amid Casino Allegations

Trove Markets, a project that raised $11.5 million under the guise of launching on Hyperliquid, lost nearly all its value Monday after abruptly migrating to Solana. The token, TROVE, collapsed 98% instantly upon listing, vaporizing millions in investor capital while on-chain sleuths uncovered evidence of funds being diverted to crypto casinos.

The $11 Million Pivot

The collapse began late Sunday when the Trove team announced a surprise departure from the Hyperliquid ecosystem, the very network they had solicited funds to build on. Citing a “liquidity partner” who allegedly withdrew the 500,000 HYPE stake required for launch, Trove pivoted its Token Generation Event (TGE) to Solana.

The market reaction was immediate and violent. Early investors, who had poured in over $11 million against a $2.5 million target, saw the fully diluted valuation (FDV) of TROVE plummet from $21 million to under $330,000 in minutes. Liquidity on the new Solana pools evaporated, leaving holders trapped with effective losses of 99%.

ZachXBT Finds the Receipts

While the team blamed external partners, on-chain data told a darker story. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT publicly confronted the project regarding the misappropriation of angel round funds.

“Want to explain to the community why your team bridged $45K from the Trove Angel Round raise on Jan 11 and deposited it directly into a casino deposit address?”

Further scrutiny revealed that wallets linked to the project were aggressively dumping the HYPE token security bond, worth millions, contrary to the team’s claims of losing access to it. Additionally, reports surfaced that influencers were paid undisclosed monthly retainers of $5,000 to hype the ICO, with some, like @waleswoosh, admitting to receiving payments.

Institutional Context

This incident underscores the fragility of “ecosystem-aligned” raises where technical enforcement is absent. By raising funds on one premise (Hyperliquid native) and executing on another (Solana migration), Trove effectively bypassed the reputational checks of the original chain. The market sentiment has shifted from disappointment to accusations of criminal fraud, with calls for class-action lawsuits mounting as the team remains unresponsive to refund demands.