In a stunning overnight drop, the value of Polyhedra Network’s native token, $ZKJ , crashed more than 80%, sending shockwaves through the DeFi space and leaving behind over $99 million in liquid liquidations. What just last week was being pointed to as one of the most profitable farming tokens—and especially one that was yielding Binance Alpha Points when paired with $KOGE—has now sparked a heated (and some would say unpleasant) debate among investors and analysts about whether this was a real market crash or just a well-orchestrated rug pull. A Sudden Fall From Grace Only a few days ago, $ZKJ was being lauded in the DeFi world for its exceptional performance and interesting yield opportunities. It was being praised for how it had integrated into Binance’s Alpha Points system, and users were going wild adding $ZKJ and $KOGE to their liquidity pools to earn the maximum possible rewards. And then, in just a few hours, all of that changed. The token crashed below $0.40, descending from a prior height close to $2.00, with numerous owners taken by surprise at the quickness and size of the drop. Those following the crash allege it was not an accidental event. Instead, they cite as the cause of the event large holders of the token—whale accounts—who apparently decided to dump their holdings just before the token started crashing. Onchain Data Reveals $ZKJ Whale Dumping Activity According to on-chain analytics from Key Insight Display (KID), several wallets holding significant amounts of $ZKJ began to shift their assets in the hours leading up to the crash. One wallet, flagged by DexCheck, added about $58,000 of $ZKJ to a liquidity pool at around $1.90, only to turn around and sell the same amount barely an hour later. Soon after, the same address exited from the liquidity pool, taking with it 132,000 $ZKJ tokens, and sold them for just over $100,000, averaging about $1.50 per token. KID isn’t the only outfit on the case. KID has worked up a pretty good story—based on what’s called on-chain analysis, a way of reading what’s happened where and to whom on the blockchain. A different, more well-known wallet is said to have invested $2.7 million to acquire 1.3 million ZKJ tokens at an average price of $2. That wallet, however, fully exited this position by selling off the remaining assets at prices as low as $0.70, which would mean a realized loss so large it could only be taken as a sign of near-total insolvency, unless the original purchase was somehow such a confidence-inspiring move that the buyer of it felt it necessary to make use of this 2.7 million dollar portion of his apparent assets. Many now believe that the crash was not simply brought on by overall market sentiment but was rather the result of coordinated selling by important insiders, or by some early investors, who had begun to unload their shares in a big way. These movements have led people to think of the crash as something more sinister. CEX Movements and Market Fallout More than $2 million worth of $ZKJ tokens have, in the past 24 hours, apparently been sent to centralized exchanges. The most popular destinations were Binance and OKX, which might have been picking up the slack for the primarily DeFi $ZKJ. We now have a fresh semi-transparent indication that folks are readying a substantial sell-off. Multiple whale accounts offloaded $ZKJ before the crash Polyhedra ($ZKJ) slumped to new lows following a series of trading activities. Onchain data suggests whale influence on the downtrend. As spotted by the Key Insight Display (KID), Multiple whale accounts and top holders… pic.twitter.com/ZWB1IPnKft — DexCheck AI (@DexCheck_io) June 16, 2025 The aftermath has been brutal for liquidity providers (LPs), especially those participating in the $ZKJ–$KOGE pool. Many saw their positions wiped out almost instantly, with total liquidation losses estimated to exceed $99 million. The event has not only shaken confidence in $ZKJ but has also cast a long shadow over similar yield farming mechanisms that rely heavily on speculative incentives rather than fundamental token utility. The community is now demanding transparency as the mounting questions about whether or not the insiders at Polyhedra orchestrated the collapse are being asked. Certain users are even going so far as to call for centralized exchanges to freeze assets tied to whale wallets that are under suspicion and to launch internal investigations. Conclusion: A Familiar Pattern or Misfortune? Even though the Polyhedra team has not yet issued an official statement, the on-chain data is showing signs that the crypto community has come to know all too well: a “slow rug pull.” This is when insiders methodically extract value from a project, unwinding their positions gradually and without drawing any attention—at least, any attention that would raise red flags and prompt people to get out of the way. It’s unclear whether the $ZKJ crash was a deliberate rug pull or just an unfortunate result of bad timing in the market. But one thing is certain: DeFi investors now have another cautionary tale to tell. It’s especially relevant for apps that rely on yield and for any investors looking to them. The world of cryptocurrency watches intently as probes go deeper and more information comes to light, praying that the today’s investigations yield some solid, teachable moments that can be used to prevent tomorrow’s losses. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. 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