LAB token crashes 99% as presale gains shrink to $6.8 million

LAB token has fallen 99% since June, with a 313-wallet presale group's stake shrinking from about $1 billion to $6.8 million, BubbleMaps said.

"The on-chain patterns will get ugly," BubbleMaps warned on June 4, when presale participants held more than $1 billion in unrealized paper profits they could not yet sell.

The token peaked at $27.22 on June 2 and now trades near $0.12, a 99.6% drop, with a market capitalization of about $52.6 million against a 455 million-token circulating supply. The presale group's combined holdings fell from $519.5 million on July 3 to $6.8 million by Aug. 12, according to BubbleMaps. On July 8, LAB dropped about 85% in a day to under $2, forcing leveraged traders to sell on Binance's perpetual futures market. Days later, a wallet that on-chain sleuth ZachXBT tied to the LAB team sold $18.3 million of tokens through the exchange Aster, dragging the price from roughly $1.20 to $0.55.

Monthly unlocks of 16.23 million LAB are scheduled from Aug. 14 through Dec. 14, 2026, when locked presale tokens become tradable for the first time. Another 70.8% of the token supply is marked "Untracked," meaning those tokens may unlock at any time, adding further selling pressure to an already collapsing price.

ZachXBT alleged in May that insiders held more than 95% of LAB's supply and inflated the price through coordinated market-making on centralized exchanges. His report described private loans routed through the project's British Virgin Islands entity, The Lab Management Ltd., with founder Vova Sadkov signing as director. One contract charged 7.5% a month and let the borrower repay in LAB "at market price." His investigation also detailed offers to key opinion leaders at discounts as steep as 80%, with token releases tied to promotional posts.

ZachXBT called on Binance, Bitget, and Gate.io to freeze insider profits or delist LAB. None of the three has publicly acted on that demand. LAB launched in October 2025, and its team has not issued a public rebuttal to the allegations.

The collapse shows the risks of presale tokens, where locked supply and opaque insider structures can leave retail buyers holding positions that fall before they can exit. With the first cliff unlock due Aug. 14, holders who have watched their positions shrink for two months finally get a chance to sell — into a market that has already priced in the worst. The episode may also dampen appetite for similar early-stage token sales, as investors weigh on-chain warnings against the promise of presale discounts.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.