Dats Bring Crypto’s Insider Trading Problem To Tradfi: Shane Molidor
Information asymmetry and front-running behaviors are migrating from token markets to institutional products like DATs, warns Shane Molidor of Forgd.
Crypto’s chronic insider trading problem is expanding from token launches to digital asset treasuries (DATs), as investors exploit early knowledge of upcoming corporate coin purchases.
The issue runs deeper than a few bad actors, according to Shane Molidor, founder and CEO of the blockchain advisory firm Forgd. He described insider-style behavior as a structural feature of crypto markets, where prices often detach from fair value.
A veteran of both Western and Asian trading desks, Molidor told Cointelegraph that many of crypto’s early institutions still treat regulation as an afterthought. “In the West, it’s ask permission rather than forgiveness,” he said. “In the East, it’s move fast, make as much money as possible and deal with the consequences later.”
Molidor previously held leadership roles at crypto exchanges AscendEX and the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini. He led trading at market maker FBG Capital in China before launching Forgd. The company, which calls itself a Web3 investment bank, advises on tokenomics design, market maker relationships and exchange listings.
As DATs gain traction, the same market dynamics driving insider behavior in token trading are now surfacing in institutional products, Molidor warned.
“Even a small amount of buy-side demand can have a huge market impact when the assets are illiquid,” he said. “It’s a virtuous loop — until it isn’t.”
In crypto, new token listings prioritize spectacle over fair market discovery, according to Molidor, who explained that stakeholders in the listing process — exchanges, market makers and token issuers — are “self-interested and profit-motivated.” That dynamic, he said, shapes how new assets are introduced to retail traders.
Exchanges can underprice tokens and keep liquidity thin at launch, so even small bursts of buying from retail users push prices higher. “They’re incentivized to curate prices to go up and to the right,” Molidor said. “They can accomplish this through lesser-known tactics, like purposefully underpricing a token launch at TGE or layering thin liquidity.”
Retail traders interpret the early green candles as signs of strength and rush to buy in, unaware that their own orders are what’s driving the surge. “Everyone thinks they’re getting a fair and reasonable cost basis, but they’re not,” he said. “They’re buying all-time highs a
Source: CoinTelegraph
