**5 main reasons why token
$THE (THENA - DeFi on BNB Chain) pumped hard and then dumped significantly in the last 24 hours (15-16/3/2026) on Binance:**
Token pumped from ~0.27-0.32 to a peak of ~0.49-0.60 (an increase of +90-116% in just a few hours) and then crashed back to ~0.21-0.24 (dump -64%+),
1. **Active price manipulation by attacker (pump phase 1)**:
Attacker withdrew millions of
$THE from the exchange (8.98M tokens ~2.5M USD before the pump), heavily bought using stablecoins borrowed from Aave + thin liquidity on DEX/CEX โ pushed the price up from 0.27 to 0.60 in just minutes. Binance spot/futures volume exploded, creating FOMO.
2. **Exploiting high prices to borrow massively on Venus Protocol**:
Attacker deposited a large amount of THE as collateral (bypassing supply cap), immediately borrowed ~3.7-5M USD in assets (20 BTC + 1.5M CAKE + 200 BNB + โฆ). The price of THE was โartificially pumpedโ helping borrow exceed its actual value.
3. **Dumping to realize profit + trigger liquidation**:
After borrowing, the attacker dumped THE heavily on Binance + CEX (possibly combined with shorting) โ the price fell from 0.60 to 0.23 in less than 1 hour. This is a typical โexit liquidity.โ
4. **Cascading liquidations creating massive sell pressure**:
When the price dumped, the collateral position on Venus became under-collateralized โ the system automatically liquidated in bulk. Liquidators received THE at a discount and sold it immediately on the market, causing the price to plunge + leaving bad debt of ~2.15M for Venus (Venus has paused the
$THE market).
5. **Low liquidity + retail FOMO + panic selling when news spreads**:
THE was inherently illiquid, and listing on Binance increased volatility exponentially. Retail saw a green candle of 100%+ FOMO buying at the peak โ when the dump occurred + news of the exploit spread (Lookonchain, X, Binance Square), everyone panicked to cut losses + whales took profits, creating a domino effect.
**In summary**: This is a classic DeFi exploit style โpump collateral โ borrow โ dump โ liquidationโ.
$THE #DUMP #PUMP