Crypto Sleuthing Firm Bubblemaps Launches Token on Solana and BNB

Bubblemaps, a popular on-chain visualization tool and crypto sleuthing firm, has launched its BMT token on Solana (SOL) and Binance Smart Chain (BNB) ahead of the launch of its investigation platform: Intel Desk.

But onlookers weren’t happy with how the launch went down because it appeared the firm had control of 94% of the supply. Bubblemaps, however, say this is very different from the scams it has called out in the past—mostly due to its transparency.

BMT peaked at a $90 million market cap on Solana and $49 million on Binance Smart Chain, according to DEX Screener. Both have since dropped to a $26 million market cap. From launch, the token has been available to trade on centralized exchanges ByBit, Kraken, and Bitget.

The token will be used for governance on the soon-to-launch Intel Desk investigation platform. Proposers will submit ideas for investigations—like a suspected scam token launch or suspicious wallet. Then BMT holders can vote on which one will be investigated. External contributors are allowed to contribute to the investigation and will be rewarded with BMT if they provide useful information.

Intel Desk is set to launch in “early 2025.”

At launch, according to the Bubblemaps tool, a cluster connected to the BMT deployer wallet controls nearly 94% of the token supply on Solana. This quickly led to some users believing the token was an “exit scam” or the account on X, formerly Twitter, had been hacked.

The Bubblemaps team confirmed to Decrypt that this was not the case.

Bubblemaps released an X thread in response, claiming that users were seeing symptoms of the tokenomics. The thread explained that the deployer wallet was holding 86% of the Solana supply. The team said over the coming days, it will slowly move the tokens to the Vesting Contract Operator wallet that currently holds 5.6% of the supply.

Once moved, the funds will be distributed across the tokenomics allocations, as outlined in the Bubblemaps whitepaper.

Of the 1 billion BMT token supply, 26.3% will be allocated to the ecosystem—which largely consists of tokens for Intel Desk incentives. Then, 24.3% will be assigned to “Investors,” 22.2% for a future airdrop, 12.2% is for providing liquidity, 9% is for the team, and 6% for the protocol. According to the whitepaper, just 27.05% of the supply is circulating at launch.

Nick Vaiman, co-founder and CEO of Bubblemaps, told Decrypt that the firm is testing the Vesting Contract Operator before depositing everything in that wallet. Once ready, the funds will be deposited and slowly released over a 4-year vesting period, as outlined in the whitepaper.

But that's not the only issue users have had with the launch.

“When other coins bundle their supply you immediately go after them,” one pseudonymous X user, JeremyyBTC, replied to the thread, “but when you pull the exact same shit suddenly it’s all good? Such a joke."

They appeared to be alluding to the fact that the Bubblemaps team has positioned itself as the guardian of crypto, warning investors against projects that the firm deem to be a scam or potential rug pull. A big factor in determining this, for Bubblemaps, is how much of the token supply a project holds.

For example, the firm warned against purchasing the infamous DJT token because one cluster held 67% of the supply. Some ignored the warning, claiming that it didn't matter. But the token eventually plummeted 92% after 20% of the supply was sold all at once.

When asked to clarify how the BMT supply control was different from malicious meme coin launches, Bubblemaps pointed Decrypt to an X post stating, “the issue is when projects deliberately obscure how much they own—that’s when it becomes predatory.”

It appears the Bubblemaps team
believes that a slyly bundled meme coin launch is very different from a project admitting to holding a large portion of the supply to vest over multiple years. In fact, this is fairly standard for crypto projects looking to offer utility.

Solana, for example, allocated 22.9% of its token supply to community as well as 19.2% to seed and founding funding round participants set to vest over a long period of time, according to Tokenomist. Only recently 11.16 million Solana unlocked as part of this initial tokenomic plan.

“Intention matters,” Cecilia Dahlberg, CMO at Bubblemaps, said.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.