COAI surged 172% in the past week, but the findings have raised doubts about trading fairness and decentralization in its market.
A new investigation by blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps has raised serious questions about trading activity surrounding ChainOpera (COAI), one of the largest projects on the BNB Chain.
The analysis indicates that one entity may control half of the highest-earning COAI token wallets, netting $13 million in collective profit.
ChainOpera is a decentralized, agent-centric AI ecosystem that enables collaborative intelligence. It allows users, developers, and infrastructure providers to co-create, own, and operate AI agents together.
The COAI token is the ecosystem’s native asset. It is the primary currency for accessing services, rewarding community contributions, and participating in the network’s decentralized development.
According to CoinGecko, the altcoin has emerged as the top gainer over the past week, even as the broader market experienced volatility following the aftermath of Crypto Black Friday. COAI’s price has appreciated by more than 172%, reaching an all-time high (ATH) earlier this week.
Nonetheless, the token has faced downward pressure over the past day, dipping nearly 23% to a press-time value of $17.84.
Despite the short-term correction, the performance underlines the token’s resilience amid wider market fluctuations. But who is actually benefiting from the token’s record rally? According to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, the major beneficiary could be a single entity.
“One entity controls HALF of the top earning COAI wallets. Total profit: $13 million,” the post read.
In an investigation shared on X (formerly Twitter), Bubblemaps identified the 60 most profitable COAI wallets that exhibited identical, highly automated trading patterns.
The post revealed that they were each initially funded with 1 BNB through Binance at around 11:00 a.m. UTC on March 25. Each executed thousands of automated trades via the Binance Alpha platform. Such uniformity in trading behavior led Bubblemaps to point toward central management or highly coordinated action behind these addresses.
“In total, over 50% of the top 100 COAI traders belong to a single entity,” Bubblemaps noted.
While the analytics platform emphasized that no direct link has been established between these wallets and ChainOpera’s core team, it described the coordinated behavior as ‘unusual’ given the scale and automation involved. The ChainOpera AI team has not yet provided a response to Bubblemaps’ findings.
