> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://blog.bubblemaps.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# This Escalated Quickly
- URL: https://blog.bubblemaps.io/this-escalated-quickly/
- Published: 2026-01-22T19:00:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-22T19:00:52.000Z
- Author: Bubblemaps

Markets have been choppy lately, but DeFi still did what it does best: made headlines. Let’s dig into a few.

## Trove Happened

 The token [$TROVE](https://x.com/search?q=%24TROVE&src=cashtag%5Fclick&ref=blog.bubblemaps.io) launched 2 days back and quickly dropped -90%.  
  
• The presale was at $20M FDV  
• It now trades around $2M FDV  
  
We found that one entity got 12% of [$TROVE](https://x.com/search?q=%24TROVE&src=cashtag%5Fclick&ref=blog.bubblemaps.io) supply. This was spread across 80 fresh wallets from ChangeHero with the same activity.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/19/d2/19d2abd6-b3d7-45da-8e65-9ec46f80625e/content/images/2026/01/trove-em.png)

Among the top holders, 78 wallets show the same pattern  
  
• no prior on-chain activity  
• funded by ChangeHero (uncommon CEX)  
• funded in 3 tight time batches (forming time nodes)

[Read more](https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2013390040957886557?ref=blog.bubblemaps.io)

---

## Who Dumped?

The top holder of [$WhiteWhale](https://x.com/search?q=%24WhiteWhale&src=cashtag%5Fclick&ref=blog.bubblemaps.io) sold $1.3M  
  
Causing a -60% price candle  
  
The wallet still holds 1% of the supply

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/19/d2/19d2abd6-b3d7-45da-8e65-9ec46f80625e/content/images/2026/01/Wwhale-em.png)

[Read our thread](https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2013305293300736107?ref=blog.bubblemaps.io)

---

## The Ex-Mayoral Rug

Launched on January 12 by Eric Adams, the former mayor of New York.  
  
The team extracted over **$1M** by cycling USDC in and out of the liquidity pools.  
  
How? A wallet connected to the $NYC deployer created one-sided LP on Meteora.  
  
The same wallet then:  
• removed \~$2.5M USDC at the peak  
• added back \~$1.5M USDC after a -60% price drop

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/19/d2/19d2abd6-b3d7-45da-8e65-9ec46f80625e/content/images/2026/01/nyc-em.png)

This series of events reminds us of the $LIBRA scandal where we saw similar tactics being used.  
  
Six hours post launch, the $NYC token released a statement claming the team had been "re-balancing" the liquidity pool. No further clarification has been provided since, the last X post was on January 14: an AI generated image.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/19/d2/19d2abd6-b3d7-45da-8e65-9ec46f80625e/content/images/2026/01/nyc2-em.png)

[More details](https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2010890093431832789?ref=blog.bubblemaps.io)

---

### More to see:

The $RALPH dev exit [**here**](https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2014282191979806817?ref=blog.bubblemaps.io) \- Unlucky $RNGR buyers [**here**](https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2010783571309707527?ref=blog.bubblemaps.io)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/19/d2/19d2abd6-b3d7-45da-8e65-9ec46f80625e/content/images/2026/01/ralph-rngr-em.png)

---

Thanks for reading, remember to stay safe and [bubble it](https://v2.bubblemaps.io/?ref=blog.bubblemaps.io),  
  
*Team Bubblemaps*