ZKJ crashes 85% in hours — but Polyhedra says it’s not over yet
Polyhedra Network co-founder Tiancheng Xie has vowed to continue buying back ZKJ tokens after the cryptocurrency plunged nearly 85% in just a few hours. The crash, which saw ZKJ fall from around $2 to $0.30 on Sunday, was reportedly triggered by what Xie called a “coordinated financial attack.”
What caused the ZKJ token crash?
In an initial report published Monday, Polyhedra blamed the drop on a “coordinated on-chain liquidity attack” combined with mass token dumps on PancakeSwap. Additional pressure came from large deposits by crypto trading firm Wintermute into centralized exchanges (CEXs), which led to cascading liquidations.
“Key immediate factors include significant token deposits stemming from a coordinated onchain liquidity attack, substantial deposits by Wintermute into centralized exchanges, and cascading liquidations on these exchanges,” the company said.
Buyback efforts and community response
Despite mounting criticism, Xie said Polyhedra Network will push forward with more token buybacks. “We will buy back more,” he wrote on X. “Now we need to figure out the current situation and prevent future financial attacks.”
Addressing concerns from the community, Xie remained defiant: “Our tech is rock solid. We won’t back down from shady financial attacks.”
ZKJ’s volatile history
Launched in March 2024, ZKJ surged to an all-time high of $3.40 shortly after listing but later dropped to around $1.10, where it traded sideways until showing signs of recovery in November. Sunday’s sudden crash erased most of those gains and reignited concerns about token liquidity and market manipulation in the DeFi space.
zkBridge and $1B valuation
Polyhedra Network is best known for developing zkBridge, a zero-knowledge interoperability protocol that it claims outperforms other proofs in speed and efficiency. The company reached a $1 billion valuation in March 2024 after raising $20 million in a strategic round led by Polychain Capital, with Animoca Brands and HashKey Capital also participating.
