Crypto investigator ZachXBT has published his most comprehensive investigation into the LAB token to date, exposing that it goes far beyond earlier price manipulation allegations to document a BVI shell company, opaque private loan agreements, unilateral vesting changes, on-chain links to the RIVER token manipulation, and what he estimates is more than 95% insider supply control.
“Here’s why @LABtrade_ represents everything wrong with the current meta of retail extraction on major centralized exchanges,” ZachXBT wrote.
The investigation builds on TCT’s earlier reporting on LAB manipulation allegations and the 100 million token Bitget withdrawal that triggered ZachXBT’s public attack on Bitget CEO Shawn Liu.
The Founders: Sadkov, Mark X, and the Eesee Trail
ZachXBT identifies LAB’s founders as Vova Sadkov (@vsadkovv), a UAE-based developer with 133,400 followers on X, and Mark X (@tokensaler), a self-described “Listing & Marketing Advisor” with a “2000+ KOLs Network Worldwide” based in Dubai with 16,100 followers.
Both previously ran Eesee ($ESE), a gamified NFT marketplace that launched in April 2024 on the Blast chain. As investor Simon Dedic (@sjdedic) publicly warned on May 10: “Sell your $LAB. The same founders launched $ESE just one year earlier, and that chart speaks for itself. Abandoning your project that quickly just to launch the next value extraction cycle is not necessarily what I’d consider founder behavior worth betting on.”
Dedic, who described himself as an angel investor in Eesee, added that “investors got screwed over: vesting terms were changed right before TGE, and there were last-minute refunds so they could maximize the low-float high-FDV ponzi playbook.” ESE currently trades down 93.2% from its all-time high. Its chart is effectively a straight line to zero.
No Token Distribution, Conflicting Float Data
ZachXBT flagged a fundamental transparency failure: LAB has no clear token distribution available anywhere. CoinGecko, RootData, and CoinMarketCap all report different circulating supply figures. The LAB docs themselves provide zero details on the token breakdown — searching for “distribution,” “unlock,” or “vesting” returns no results.
Based on his analysis of on-chain activity, ZachXBT estimates insiders likely control more than 95% of supply currently. The token has a total supply of 1 billion LAB, with only 309.95 million reported as circulating — but ZachXBT’s data suggests even this figure overstates the true public float, given the volume of insider-controlled wallets and exchange deposits documented in the investigation.
The BVI Shell Company and 7.5%/Month Loan Contracts
The most damaging new evidence is a loan agreement obtained by ZachXBT, executed by “The Lab Management Ltd.”—a BVI Business Company registered at Quijano Chambers, P.O. Box 3159, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. The agreement is signed by Vladimir Sadkov as Director.
The contract terms are striking: the borrower (LAB’s corporate entity) receives USDT loans at 7.5% per month for six months — an annualized rate of 90%. Payment is made to wallet address 0xf09C19328C26088053a8c9CfB982427bafF2Bd0b on ERC-20. If the borrower defaults, repayment is made in LAB tokens at “market price”—a provision that effectively converts the loan into a token sale at whatever price insiders have pumped the token to.
ZachXBT notes it is a draft contract from Q1 2026, but an unnamed source confirmed interest payments were made under similar terms.
The borrower wallet from the loan contract (0xf09c) is the same wallet used for public LAB buybacks—and is tied on-chain to 0x3185, a borrower address from a separate loan on Wildcat Finance. The Wildcat profile lists “LAB USD Coin” as a USDC lending market under the legal entity “The Lab Management Ltd.,” headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, with a borrower address of 0x3185…2d7d. The market status is listed as “Terminated.”
Personal and Business Funds Commingled
ZachXBT’s TRM Labs flow diagrams trace funds directly from LAB-related operations to what he identifies as Vova Sadkov’s personal exchange accounts. The same accounts received deposits tied to Eesee before LAB existed—linked through Sadkov’s ENS name (vovaxx.eth) and OpenSea NFT holdings under the username “vovaxx,” which show transactions with both “eesee.eth” and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs.
“It’s strange to see personal and business funds commingling like this,” ZachXBT noted, publishing Sadkov’s alleged Bybit deposit address (0x2f7f…e30) and Gate deposit address (0x3b53…d70c).
Unilateral Vesting Changes — Retail Locked, Insiders Free
The LAB team unilaterally changed vesting terms for Legion public sale participants. Original terms: 3-month cliff plus 8-month linear vest, fully unlocked at month 11. Updated terms: 0% at TGE, 9-month cliff, then 6-month linear vesting — fully unlocked at month 15.
The team framed this as supporting “long-term stability” and “Tier-1 spot listing readiness.” Retail investors saw it differently. One user, @tigerweb3riji, wrote in a translated post: “Your $LAB project team was all sweet talk back then, patting your chests and promising ‘3-month lock, 8-month linear release,’ and now today you just flip the rules on a dime — straight to a 9-month lock plus 6 months linear! Do you think us retail investors are your personal ATMs?”
Meanwhile, creators who ran marketing campaigns for LAB through Cookie DAO reported waiting over six months for promised token payouts. Cookie DAO had publicly stated in October 2025 that “40% of $LAB rewards are unlocked; the remaining 60% follows a 6-month vesting schedule.” As of May 2026, multiple creators say they have received none of the remaining 60%.
The OTC Discount Machine
While retail investors were locked into extended vesting, the LAB team was simultaneously offering a menu of private deals at steep discounts. ZachXBT documented multiple tiers:
Mark X (co-founder) openly solicited OTC buyers in a public Telegram group (“FOUNDER APP Buy/Sell Traffic,” 841 members) on January 6: “Binance perps listed project open for OTC deals. Please DM who is interested.”
In a private Telegram conversation, Mark X identified himself as “co-founder” and offered LAB at a 60% discount with 2-month cliff and 2-month vesting when the token was trading at $1.87.
A separate WhatsApp conversation showed a menu of deal types being offered: loans in stablecoins at up to 5% per month; classic OTC at 60% discount with 5-month cliff; guaranteed discount OTC at 25% recalculated monthly (33% profit in 6 months); and a 20% guaranteed discount tranche with monthly payouts.
Most recently, a KOL Capital pitch offered LAB at an 80% discount ($1 per token when trading near $5), with 50% unlocking on August 14 and 50% on September 15. The terms required KOLs to publish a minimum of two posts per month in support of LAB — a total of eight posts before unlock — or face blacklisting from future deals.
“These create hidden supply unlocks retail cannot see,” ZachXBT wrote. “As price has gone up, the OTC discounts have widened.”
LAB Team Signer Linked to RIVER Manipulation
ZachXBT uncovered that one of the signers for several LAB team multisigs (0xcEA7…eBC9) was funded by an insider linked on-chain to the RIVER token manipulation. The same insider received $12 million+ in RIVER tokens deposited to two CEX addresses.
TRM Labs flow diagrams published by ZachXBT show the RIVER manipulation wallets (labeled “RIVER market manipulation”) connected through gas-giver addresses to the LAB signer, who in turn signed transactions on multiple LAB Safe contracts. Arkham Intelligence data confirms RIVER tokens worth millions were deposited to both Bitget and Kraken deposit addresses from wallets in the same cluster.
This directly connects the LAB team’s infrastructure to the same entities previously identified by ZachXBT in the RAVE and RIVER manipulation investigations—entities he has described as part of an “unknown MM operating via Chinese exchanges” running a consistent playbook across RIVER, RAVE, SIREN, MYX, SKYAI, and now LAB.
226 Million LAB Deposited to Bitget — Then Withdrawn
ZachXBT confirmed that 226 million LAB tokens were deposited to Bitget deposit addresses by insiders in March–April 2026 across five wallets, holding 30–60 million LAB each. The deposits sat dormant until 100 million LAB were withdrawn a few days ago to ten fresh addresses.
A comprehensive TRM Labs flow diagram maps the full LAB supply movement from Safe contracts through signer addresses, exchange deposits, OTC distributions, and market maker intermediary addresses—with gas givers funded on April 23 suggesting coordinated preparation.
“Across LAB since TGE, there have been only a handful of non-insider transfers >$150K,” ZachXBT noted. “This supports my >95% insider control estimate from earlier.”
The Call to Action
ZachXBT concluded with a direct demand: “Call to action for @bitgetglobal, @binance, @gate_io to freeze insider profits and redistribute them to users. Or delist and act earlier without waiting for public pressure.”
He confirmed he has already paid $1,500 out of his own pocket from the $10,000 bounty announced last week for intel on the LAB operation.
“It seems everyone has private info except retail,” ZachXBT wrote. “Team knows the unlocks, MM knows the positioning, OTC buyers know their cliffs. Retail only sees LAB price.”
No public response has been issued by Vova Sadkov, Mark X, LABtrade, Bitget, Binance, or Gate.io.
Also Read: ZachXBT Calls Bitget Part of “Chinese CEX Cartel” After 100M LAB Tokens Withdrawn to Fresh Wallets
