LAB token plunges 80%, $5B wiped from market cap

LAB token plunged 80% to $1.25 over 48 hours, reducing its market capitalization from about $5 billion to roughly $390 million by 3:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday. The token dropped from nearly $17 on Tuesday to just over $7 before the steep fall to $1.25.

The sell-off played out across major centralized exchanges, where trading volumes jumped as holders sold into rapidly falling prices. The movement erased billions in value in a short span and concentrated activity on a small set of trading venues.

LAB Trade’s development team posted on X, attributing the decline to outsized selling by external holders and saying the project roadmap remains unchanged. In the post the team wrote: “While today’s market activity is disappointing, our product roadmap and long-term focus remain unchanged. We’re seeing significant selling pressure from large market participants. Several independent trading firms also hold substantial LAB positions that are not affiliated with our team. We’re working closely with our liquidity partners and continue to monitor market conditions.”

On-chain analyst ZachXBT criticized major exchanges for not intervening earlier. Writing on X, he stated that “no action was taken by Binance, Bitget, and Gate earlier to prevent it. If CEXs cared, profits from the accounts manipulating the price would be distributed to users at a minimum.” He added that insiders had effectively controlled the circulating supply and recommended avoiding trades in LAB.

Investor concern rose ahead of scheduled token unlocks set to begin later in July 2026. The project has altered vesting schedules in the past, and those upcoming unlocks and questions about token distribution appear to have increased selling as holders reduced exposure before additional supply reached markets.

LAB’s rapid collapse mirrors recent events in other tokens that saw quick price spikes followed by sharp losses. Market participants and on-chain analysts pointed to concentrated holdings and coordination between market makers and large accounts as recurring factors in similar sell-offs.