On January 11, Trove Markets announced it raised $11.5 million in a token sale on Hyperliquid, but minutes after the token launched, its market value collapsed amid a last‑minute chain switch and allegations of fund misuse. Investors lost confidence as the project moved its planned exchange to Solana and kept most of the proceeds.
Trading data shows the token plunged from about $21 million to near $330,000 on launch. (Ed. note: The drop was roughly 98 percent.)
Thousands of backers demanded answers after steep losses and reduced payouts. One buyer said “My $20,000 investment… should have resulted in $14,000 USDC back and $6,000 in $TROVE… Due to the token giga nuking, they gave me in total $600 back.”
Trove’s anonymous developers stated they refunded about $2.4 million to early investors and will retain roughly $9.4 million to build the exchange. They added “Trove is not disappearing,” and “We are not ‘taking the money and running.'”
The project plans a perpetual futures market for in‑demand collectibles like Pokémon cards and Counter Strike 2 skins; the Card Ladder Index tracks a long run of gains in collectible cards. Counter Strike 2 skins once hit an all‑time high before a later market drop that fell by about $3 billion.
Critics posted alleged paid‑promotion messages and screenshots, including posts that raised disclosure questions, others that shared screenshots, and still more that showed conversations and a team member soliciting promotions. A crypto investigator posted an onchain analysis alleging a $45,000 transfer to a casino; those claims were not independently verified.
