TROVE Collapses After Messy ICO

Jona Jaupi & Olivia Capozzalo
January 20, 2026

gm Defiers!

Today’s big story:

If you needed another reminder that crypto can move quickly from CT hype to being called out as a scam, Trove Markets just showed it in real time.

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Today’s Big Story

Trove’s ICO Drama Intensifies as TROVE Collapses

If you needed another reminder that crypto hype can turn into losses fast, Trove Markets just showed it in real time.

After raising millions in a public token sale and getting a lot of attention on Crypto Twitter, Trove launched its new token, TROVE, yesterday and the price crashed almost immediately. Within minutes of going live, TROVE dropped more than 95%, leaving many early buyers shocked and angry.

And at the time of publishing, the chart looks even worse. On GeckoTerminal, TROVE is down nearly 98% over the past 24 hours, trading near $0.0004872. The token’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) was around $449,000, with a market cap near $348,000. Meanwhile, liquidity is only at about $32,000.

TROVE/USD price chart. Source: GeckoTerminal

Beyond the Token

But the price crash is only part of why people are upset. Many users say the project’s marketing was misleading, as it made major infra changes after people had already put money into the token sale.

Trove was pitched as a new on-chain perpetuals trading platform “powered by Hyperliquid,” which helped it gain support from the Hyperliquid community. That hype spread quickly across Crypto Twitter, and the sale raised more than $10 million – far above its reported $2.5 million goal.

The token sale was also marketed at a relatively low valuation (around $20 million), making it look “cheap” compared to other projects, experts explained.

Then came the surprise change: On Jan. 16, Trove posted that “$TROVE will launch on Solana” (in fact the same day a new Solana token launchpad was taking off, as we reported at the time).

The team told ICO participants who joined through EVM wallets that they would need to connect a Solana wallet to claim their tokens via Trove’s website, and they only had a short timeframe to do so. Not to mention, a couple days later, when onlookers reported that Trove was selling the 500K HYPE (over $12M) it had raised to launch its HIP-3 markets on Hyperliquid, the founder allegedly explained the move by saying the liquidity provider “is a bit nervous.”

For many buyers, this last minute pivot was a big red flag. Some crypto traders even accused Trove of being a planned scam from the start. “$TROVE was 100% a scam that they planned from last year,” wrote Crypto Bitlord, a popular crypto account on X, claiming the team “started by stealing logos.”

Crypto with Khan said the main problem was refunds, claiming Trove “reportedly refunded only $100K” while keeping roughly $9.39 million to build on Solana, “without active consent from participants.”

ICO to Casino

The situation got even messier after blockchain investigator ZachXBT raised questions about a separate transaction. ZachXBT asked Trove to explain why $45,000 USDC from Trove’s angel round funds was bridged across chains and ended up at an address linked to a casino deposit.

Trove’s pseudonymous founder, who goes by the handle unwisecap on X, responded to ZachXBT flippantly, saying that of the accounts that had, in their own words, “last minute joined the ICO” just “likes to gamble it seems.”

The whole thing has left people split, with some users calling Trove a rug pull and others saying it was just a bad launch and a messy plan change. But either way, the damage is done and trust around the project has largely eroded.

To many traders, the entire launch has become a meme in itself. “The $TROVE launch explained in 3 pictures,” wrote Jeremy on X, sharing screenshots that highlight the project’s early branding as “Powered by Hyperliquid,” the Solana pivot, and the token’s sharp post-launch crash.

Xx, Jona, staff reporter at The Defiant

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