Divergence Score — pump & dump detection via price-vs-funding divergence.

A pump and dump occurs when actors artificially inflate a token's price (the pump) while simultaneously selling or hedging through derivatives (the dump). The funding rate divergence from price action is the key detection signal.

The score (0-10) combines Funding Magnitude, measuring how deeply negative the funding rate is, and Price/Funding Divergence, measuring the gap between rising price and negative funding. Higher scores indicate stronger manipulation signals.

When price rises but shorts are paying to maintain positions (negative funding), it means someone with deep pockets is betting against the rally. This is consistent with hedge funds hedging locked tokens or market makers dumping through perps.

We monitor perpetual futures across 13 exchanges: Binance, Bybit, OKX, Gate.io, Bitget, Hyperliquid, Deribit, BitMEX, HTX, BingX, CoinEx, KuCoin, and MEXC.

Insider Selling detects ANY persistent negative funding (pure derivatives signal, price-agnostic). Pump & Dump specifically detects the DIVERGENCE where price is rising while funding stays negative, indicating coordinated manipulation.

Scores are recalculated every 30 minutes using the latest funding rate and price data from all monitored exchanges.

A volume spike is trading volume that significantly exceeds the token's recent baseline, typically measured as a z-score against a 20 or 30-day rolling average. A z-score above +2 means current volume is more than 2 standard deviations above baseline — statistically uncommon and worth investigating. Volume spikes alone aren't suspicious; they occur during legitimate catalysts (listings, partnerships, earnings). What matters is context: a volume spike with price moving higher but funding rate deeply negative indicates the rally is being shorted aggressively, which is the classic manipulation pattern the detector flags.

Organic momentum shows price rising alongside confirming signals: positive funding (longs willing to pay to be long), rising spot volume, broadening trader participation, and matching on-chain flows. A pump-and-dump shows price rising with contradicting signals: persistently negative funding (someone is paying to short the rally), volume concentrated on specific exchanges or time windows, narrow holder distribution, and exchange inflows from known insider wallets. The divergence between price action and positioning is the fingerprint — organic rallies don't feature deep-pocketed entities betting against them in size.

The three patterns are: (1) Locked-token hedging — early investors or teams short the perp to monetize tokens they can't yet sell, creating sustained negative funding during price rallies. (2) Market maker dump-via-perp — market makers pump spot prices to trigger retail FOMO, then short aggressively via perps to capture the reversal when momentum fades. (3) Team pump-and-short — project insiders coordinate marketing pushes or fake catalysts to drive price up while simultaneously shorting to capture the subsequent correction. All three produce the same detectable signature: price up, funding deeply negative.

Yes. Negative funding during a price rally can have legitimate explanations: spot-perp basis traders hedging a long spot position with a short perp, market makers running delta-neutral inventory, or structured products with synthetic exposure. High scores warrant investigation but are not proof of manipulation. The detector is a screening tool — pair elevated scores with additional forensics (exchange wallet labels, on-chain transfer tracking, unlock calendars, social sentiment analysis) before drawing conclusions. Statistical signals flag probability, not certainty.

Treat it as a warning to reassess risk, not an automatic sell signal. First, check the magnitude — a 5/10 score is ambiguous, a 9/10 score is meaningful. Second, check persistence — a spike that lasts one settlement may be noise, five settlements indicates structural positioning. Third, cross-check unlock calendars and team wallet activity. Fourth, evaluate your thesis: if you hold for fundamental reasons that remain intact, you may tolerate short-term manipulation; if your thesis was momentum-based, the signal undermines it. Size down or tighten stops accordingly rather than making binary decisions.