After more market manipulation claims surface, Neiro distances itself from Gotbit, breaking their partnership. However, the fallout between the two has raised concerns over crypto alliances, with some criticizing the Ethereum-based memecoin project.
Crypto investigator ZachXBT even joined the criticism chain on Neiro, arguing that the company knew of Gotbit’s prior market manipulation allegations before their partnership.
Neiro announces the end of its partnership with Gotbit
A few days after the SEC charged Gotbit and three other market makers with wash trading and manipulation, meme coin projects like Neiro distanced themselves.
Neiro announced its break-off from Gotbit in a post on October 11:
“We have halted our relationship with Gotbit, who were our market-maker partners. None of the issues involving Gotbit or its employees involve or are relevant to Neiro in any capacity. However, it is the right decision for the Neiro project and community to distance ourselves.”
~Neiro
The firm added that they had already withdrawn part of the money market funds, and the CTO lead will use his funds for market making as they wait for the remaining funds. The firm claimed to collaborate with new market makers as early as a few hours or days, assuring users the project would be stronger than before.
However, ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, has bashed Neiro, criticizing it for collaborating with Gotbit in the first place. He argued that Neiro was aware of Gotbit’s tainted reputation in crypto market manipulation but chose to overlook it.
He even referenced a public statement made by Neiro on August 6th, in which the meme coin project acknowledged having heard “shady stuff” about Gotbit. ZachXBT also cited how, on August 7th, a holder warned them against involving themselves with Gotbit, with Neiro urging him to only speak on their spaces.
In another post, ZachXBT challenged the Ethereum-based memecoin project to explain to their community why they decided to work with Gotbit despite knowing of their previous ‘pumps and dumps’ even before the Feds charges surfaced.
And even before the open investigation into Gotbit’s activities, the investigator had long questioned the market maker’s credibility. On September 24, 2023, ZachXBT cautioned investors against working on projects with the market maker following a leaked report on Gotbit offering highly questionable services.
According to the leaked report, Gotbit had asserted that they intended to boost the price by more than 10 times in the first few minutes of the price discovery stage to create FOMO and gather as much buying power as possible, ultimately selling the maximum number of tokens on the subsequent spike.
Other meme coin projects want to sever ties with Gotbit
Aside from Neiro, other meme coin projects have also announced their break-off from Gotbit, including Tron’s meme coin BMS. In an X post, the meme coin project revealed it will no longer work with Gotbit following the ongoing investigation into its manipulation and fraudulent schemes.
BMS expressed it had high hopes for the partnership but asserted that it could not be involved with any entity under SEC investigation.
Tron’s team also revealed that Gotbit held much of its supply tokens and is unwilling to return them. Meme coin, BEER had also quit its partnership with Gotbit and found another market maker to work with.
