Tellor (TRB) Price Experiences Intense Pump and Dump on New Year's Day

Tellor (TRB), a cryptocurrency that has seen substantial growth over the latter half of 2023, continued to surprise investors with significant volatility on the first day of 2024.

Tellor (TRB) Price Experiences Intense Pump and Dump on New Year's Day

On the morning of January 1st, 2024, many cryptocurrency investors were taken aback by the price chart of Tellor (TRB), as the coin surged threefold within hours, only to crash spectacularly afterwards.

Specifically, TRB's price started to inch up from $270 on the evening of December 31st, before skyrocketing by 132% to reach a new record high of $629 around 3 AM on January 1st.

However, in the hours that followed, Tellor unexpectedly plummeted to $168, equivalent to a staggering 73% loss, before recovering to around $200 at the time of writing.

Trading volume for the TRB/USDT pair on Binance over the past 24 hours exceeded $800 million, trailing only behind BTC/USDT.

1-hour chart of the TRB/USDT pair on Binance at 08:35 AM on January 1st, 2024

Data from Binance Futures indicated that TRB's futures contracts consistently recorded large negative funding rates, up to -2%, partially explaining the intense price fluctuations on the spot charts.

History of the funding rate for the TRBUSDT contract on Binance Futures over the past 14 days. Image: Binance Futures (01/01/2024)

According to CoinGlass, over the last 12 hours, more than $50 million in TRB derivatives contracts were liquidated, surpassing both BTC and ETH. Of this total, $14.4 million were long positions, while the remaining $36 million belonged to short positions.

Statistics on crypto derivatives liquidations in the past 12 hours, screenshot from CoinGlass at 08:35 AM on January 1st, 2024

Due to the unexpected price volatility of TRB, many derivatives trading accounts on Synthetix reported significant profits within a short period.

Some voices in the crypto community are focusing attention on DWF Labs, an investment fund and market maker that emerged in 2022, suggesting their involvement in TRB's recent price swings.

Tellor (TRB) is a project in the oracle sector, launched in 2020. After predominantly fluctuating in the $7-9 range for much of 2022, TRB began its ascent from September onwards. At the time of writing, with TRB priced at $215, it has surged nearly 24 times in just three months. Just last week, Tellor also swiftly swung from $185 to $128 in minutes, catching many investors off guard.