Solana AI token Ava hit by launch sniping tied to deployer: Bubblemaps

cointelegraphPublished on 2025-12-19Last updated on 2025-12-19

Abstract

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported that 23 wallets linked to the deployer of the Solana-based AI token Ava accumulated around 40% of the token’s supply at launch, indicating potential insider coordination. These wallets, funded via Binance and Bitget in a short timeframe, showed no prior blockchain activity before purchasing AVA. The activity, described as "sniping," involved coordinated buying at launch, leading to significant supply concentration—a red flag for potential market manipulation like rug pulls. Since its November 2024 launch, AVA’s price has fallen 79%, and it is down 96% from its January 2025 all-time high of $0.33.

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps said a cluster of 23 wallets linked to the deployer of the Solana-based AI token Ava accumulated around 40% of the token’s supply at launch, raising new questions about insider coordination around the project’s debut.

The sybil wallet cluster related to the deployer shared similar patterns, including being funded in a tight time window through Bitget and Binance, receiving similar amounts of Solana (SOL) and having no blockchain activity before buying up the Ava AI (AVA) token supply at launch, Bubblemaps claimed in a Thursday X post.

“Connected to these snipers are other wallets that also bought $AVA early. Similar funding sources, sizes, and timing strongly suggest coordination across these clusters,” they said.

In crypto slang, sniping refers to employing crypto trading bots to automatically purchase new token supply as soon as the tokens become publicly available, aiming to buy at lower prices before the general public.

While the token was launched on memecoin launch platform Pump.fun, aiming for a decentralized, community-driven debut, the wallet cluster’s activity suggests acquisitions that led to a single entity holding 40% of the token’s supply.

Related: Crypto nears its ‘Netscape moment’ as industry approaches inflection point

A large token supply concentrated across a few wallets can help investors detect scams such as rug pulls, where insiders remove liquidity or stage a mass sell-off, resulting in a steep price collapse that leaves investors with worthless tokens.

The coordinated activity was uncovered through Bubblemaps’ Time Travel feature, a forensic-grade analytics tool launched in May that enables Web3 users to reconstruct the historical distribution of tokens, aiming to detect early insider activity.

Related: Bubblemaps challenges PEPE’s fair launch, alleges 30% of genesis supply bundled

AVA AI token falls 96% from all-time high

The coordinated buying activity was revealed over a year after the AVA token’s launch on Nov. 13, 2024. The token reached a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $300 million by January 2025, making it a popular autonomous AI agent utility token native to Solana.

The AVA token is down over 79% since launch and over 96% from its all-time high of $0.33 breached on Jan. 15, 2025, CoinGecko data shows.

Ava, also known as “the HOLO AI intern,” was the first AI agent built on the decentralized AI launchpad Holoworld AI. The platform allows users to create, play, or raise funds for agentic AI applications.

Holoworld claims to have over 1 million users and 700,000 AI “creations” to date.

Cointelegraph has approached Holoworld for comment on the sybil wallet cluster’s activity during the token launch.

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