ZKJ and KOGE fell over 80% in the Binance Alpha ecosystem, which not only exposed the vulnerability of the tokens but also reflected the systemic risks hidden in the Alpha point mechanism, requiring users to be alert.
ZKJ and KOGE: Alpha Popular Swap Tokens
ZKJ is a cross-chain zero-knowledge infrastructure token launched by Polyhedra Network, while KOGE is launched by 48Club. Both have previously become “hot tokens for arbitrage” in the Binance Alpha Points competition due to low slippage, good liquidity, and small price fluctuations, consistently ranking at the top of the Alpha leaderboard.
Many users see it as a “tool for earning points,” used for frequent small transactions to obtain future new project airdrops. However, this excessive volume brushing behavior actually buries systemic risks.
A brief review of the short-term big dump event
On the evening of June 15, 2025, around 20:30, ZKJ plunged from $1.94 to a low of $0.3767, while KOGE experienced a big dump from $61 to $8.46. Within just 30 minutes, both coins saw a price drop of over 80%, resulting in a collective liquidation of the Alpha community.
According to Coinglass data, the liquidation amount for the ZKJ cryptocurrency alone reached 94.33 million USD, most of which were long traders. KOGE also faced a similar fate, leading users to widely question the rationality of the platform’s mechanism.
How does the Alpha points mechanism induce risks?
The original intention of Binance Alpha is to incentivize users through trading and promote new projects, but its “volume-based points system” leads users to generally ignore fundamentals and risk management during participation:
- Users continuously swap between tokens with high liquidity and low slippage to earn more points;
- To maintain the “trading volume competitiveness” of the token, some project parties artificially maintain price stability;
- The platform defaults to “trading volume equals value,” ignoring the real demand behind tokens that are artificially inflated.
When Alpha ranking points become the core of project hype, the token market is no longer determined by supply and demand, but is hijacked by the points structure. Once the volume is brushed and the hype declines or funds exit, systemic risks will erupt.
Trading Path Analysis: How Do Three Major Addresses Harvest?
According to on-chain analyst “AI Aunt”, the flash crash of ZKJ and KOGE was not incidental, but rather a precise strike executed by three large addresses through a carefully designed “withdrawal + dumping + piercing LP interval”:
- First, smash the KOGE with lower liquidity, triggering the first round of sell-off;
- Subsequently, the coin exchange operation will introduce selling pressure into ZKJ, utilizing its contract trading mechanism to open a short position simultaneously.
- LP panic exit leads to further price fall, ultimately forming a “chain collapse.”
These addresses had laid out ZKJ-KOGE LP 16 days before the event, creating massive trading volume in the short term, attracting funds for volume manipulation, and ultimately achieving arbitrage exit through a “big dump”.
How can a normal project be “overridden” by the model?
The Polyhedra Network has a strong technical team and sufficient financing, and there are no obvious issues with the technology roadmap of ZKJ. However, the problem is that once the token becomes a part of the Alpha game, its price is likely to deviate from the project itself.
- FDV man-made stabilization;
- The trading depth relies on LP;
- Users are only for points rather than holding coin faith;
- The community discussion leans towards strategy rather than technology.
This means that even the tokens of good projects can become victims of “arbitrage players” driven by the mechanism. Without intervention mechanisms from the platform and a lack of risk management from the project parties, a collapse becomes inevitable.
Systemic incentives that investors need to be wary of
The recent big dump event of ZKJ and KOGE is actually a typical case of “excessive concentration of liquidity + intensified arbitrage mechanism + imbalance in project price structure.”
Investors especially need to pay attention to the following points:
- Alpha is not a risk-free point-earning activity; earning points also means bearing volatility.
- The seemingly stable prices of altcoins may be an illusion controlled by artificial liquidity.
- When volume players start to withdraw, ordinary investors often become the “last holders.”;
- Projects that truly possess long-term value should be able to break free from reliance on points and airdrop cycles.
In the future, whether Binance will adjust the Alpha rules to prevent price fluctuations of tokens from causing systemic impact will become a key focus of the market. At the same time, investors should gradually learn to identify wash trading tokens and reasonably diversify risks, rather than blindly chasing rankings or pursuing short-term airdrops.
* The information is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice or any other recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by Gate.
