Binance Update Sparks 50% Decline For Solana Meme Coin ACT: Details

A recent Binance update has triggered massive liquidations while sending Solana memecoin ACT into a steep correction. At first, pundits blamed market maker Wintermute for the jarring declines but Binance’s update to leverage and margin tiers appears to be the culprit.

Several Altcoins on Binance Suffer Massive Corrections

According to an X post, several altcoins listed on Binance took a major hit, dropping by double-digit percentages. The hardest hit of the lot was Solana memecoin ACT, experiencing a sudden drop of over 50% in 30 minutes.

Other altcoins including DEXE and DF equally recorded steep declines of 23% and 16% respectively in the same window. The price slump left traders scratching their heads but a consensus formed that sizable sell orders were behind the declines.

“The sudden dips were triggered by large sell orders executed in a short time frame, leading to a significant surge in spot trading volume,” said one pundit.

Others turned to market maker Wintermute as the trigger for the selloff. However, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy denied responsibility while noting that the market maker reacted “post move.”

The decline comes amid a broader market recovery with several cryptocurrencies including Compound (COMP) gaining 70%.

What Triggered The 50% Decline For Solana Meme Coin

A Binance update on leverage and margin tiers on specific tokens like ACT triggered the massive declines. According to an April 1 announcement, the top exchange has updated the margin tiers of several perpetual contracts, noting that existing positions will be affected.

Following the move, one ACT whale got liquidated for $3.79 million at $0.1877, triggering a broad selloff. Former FTX community manager Benson Sun noted that traders had less than 3 hours to respond to the change, criticizing Binance for the move.

“Before changing the rules, Binance should have evaluated how many positions would be closed,” said Sun. “If there are market makers with large positions, they should have notified them in advance.”

However, Binance disclosed on X that the steep declines occurred following token cross-selling by three VIP users worth 514,000 USDT. A non-VIP user transferred a sizable number of ACT tokens from other exchanges and in the spot market. As ACT fell, users closed futures contracts, leading to the correction by other tokens.

According to Binance’s preliminary observation, no single account netted large profits. The exchange notes that since the transactions occurred in the secondary market, it cannot “intervene” in customers’ trading behavior.

Within hours of MUBARAK’s listing, the memecoin tumbled by 40% with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao downplaying the impact of a listing on prices. Binance has drawn criticism in recent days following its exclusion of Pi Network from its Vote To List initiative.