Trove Investors Furious After Team Keeps $9M as Token Tanks

Introduction

Crypto project Trove Markets has sparked renewed controversy after revealing a strategic pivot away from its Hyperliquid integration toward building on Solana. The move comes on the eve of a token generation event and follows a liquidity partner withdrawing a substantial portion of Hyperliquid tokens. Investors have pressured the team for refunds as Trove recalibrates its roadmap, raising questions about early-stage token launches and the path to a functional product.

Key Takeaways

• Trove pivots from Hyperliquid to Solana after a liquidity partner withdrew 500,000 Hyperliquid tokens.
• Approximately $9,397,403 will be retained to develop a perpetual DEX on Solana.
• The TROVE token plunged roughly 95% within minutes of launch, eroding investor confidence and market cap.
• Refunds totaling over $2.44 million were issued to participants, with an additional $100,000 slated for ICO participants.

Tickers mentioned:

Tickers mentioned: $HYPE

Sentiment

Sentiment: Bearish

Price impact

Price impact: Negative. The pivot and the sudden token decline have weighed on investor confidence and the token’s price trajectory.

Trading idea (Not Financial Advice)

Trading idea (Not Financial Advice): Hold. Given the pivot, investors may wait for clearer milestones and execution signals before re-entering any position.

Market context

Market context: The episode reflects heightened risk in crypto projects undergoing rapid pivots post-funding, underscoring the volatility around token launches and the importance of transparent deliverables in DeFi tooling.

TROVE token sinks 95% after TGE

Frustrations intensified as the newly launched TROVE token declined more than 95% to about $0.0008 within minutes of its token generation event, erasing a substantial portion of its implied market value. Data on DexScreener show the market cap collapsing from approximately $20 million to under $1 million in a short span.

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported that one entity appeared to receive about 12% of the token supply via 80 fresh wallets funded from a non-custodial exchange, ChangeHero. Bubblemaps cautioned that there is no evidence tying these clusters to the Trove team, highlighting the opacity that often surrounds token distributions in early-stage launches.

Trove assures they’re in it for the long haul

Despite the turmoil, Trove Market’s communications maintained a defiant cadence. The team asserted that they are “not going anywhere” and that they are not “taking the money and running.” They emphasized that the current pivot is a pathway to delivering a usable product, with progress measured through execution rather than rhetoric. The project said it would “earn trust back through execution” as it advances its roadmap.

In a broader sense, Trove signaled an intent to narrow its focus to a robust perps trading experience anchored in collectibles, including Pokémon cards and Counter-Strike 2 skins. Industry observers have noted that such niche collateral markets could, in aggregate, constitute a multi-billion-dollar opportunity if liquidity and risk controls align. Notably, Bitwise had forecasted in September that digital collectibles could mount a sizable market, underscoring a potential long-tail in niche-tokenized assets.

Cointelegraph reached out for comment but did not receive an immediate response from Trove at the time of publication.