DefiTuna Whistleblower Claims M3M3 Rigged Memecoin Launches

DefiTuna has severed ties with an investor and accused M3M3, along with Meteora’s leadership, of orchestrating a $200 million market manipulation scheme that exploited memecoin launches.

Market Manipulation Concerns Spurs Investment Refund

On February 17, 2025, DefiTuna founder Moty Povolotski publicly disclosed that the project had severed ties with Kelsier, an investor who had contributed $30,000 to the project in January. The decision came after suspicions arose regarding Kelsier’s involvement in market manipulation schemes linked to LIBRA, MELANIA, and the meme coin launchpad platform M3M3.

Povolotski stated,

“DefiTuna accepted an investment from Kelsier with a size of $30,000 which put Kelsier as the 2nd smallest investor in DefiTuna back in January 16, 2025. Upon finding out about Kelsier’s activities we have refunded Kelsier and cut all ties.”

Allegations Against M3M3 and Meteora Leadership

Following the announcement, Povolotski outlined a series of allegations implicating M3M3 and its affiliated entities in structured market manipulation. According to him, Kelsier was involved in an organized effort to extract large sums from memecoin launches on M3M3.

Additionally, he claimed that Meteora’s leadership, including its co-founder Ben, facilitated a network of influencers who profited at the expense of retail investors. Despite attempts to engage with Meteora’s core contributors, Povolotski noted that no meaningful accountability was demonstrated.

He claimed,

“I have personally gone the extra mile by risking myself and everything we built over at DefiTuna to try and get key players to speak up and start naming the bad actors and weeding them out.”

Liquidity Manipulation and Deceptive Practices

Povolotski also provided insight into DefiTuna’s interactions with Kelsier. He revealed that Kelsier had approached the project through Thomas, an employee based in Lebanon, seeking assistance in providing liquidity for M3M3. Initially introduced as an independent platform, M3M3 was later discovered to be under Ben’s control.

Kelsier’s involvement required projects launching on M3M3 to allocate a portion of their token supply to him. DefiTuna’s co-founder, Vlad, initially participated, believing the collaboration to be legitimate. However, it later became evident that Ben had imposed restrictions preventing trading activity outside of Meteora. When DefiTuna suggested a neutral liquidity distribution strategy, they were ignored.

DefiTuna’s Position in the DeFi Market

Despite its relatively small scale, DefiTuna maintains around $10 million in total value locked (TVL) and continues offering high APR staking for SOL in its lending pools. While the project operates in a high-risk environment, it remains committed to transparency and has previously spoken out against manipulative practices within the Solana ecosystem.

By taking a firm stance against market manipulation, DefiTuna aims to uphold integrity within the DeFi space, even as the broader crypto industry grapples with persistent regulatory and ethical challenges.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.