The platform said its analysis covered 49 tokens that Ethan promoted to his audience of approximately 88,000 followers. Researchers alleged that wallets associated with the influencer purchased the tokens shortly before the recommendations appeared.
Bubblemaps also reported that the suspected wallets began selling shortly after the callouts, often as Ethan continued to share positive views about the tokens. The investigation began after a tip from an X user identified as @bandosei, according to Bubblemaps.
Suspected Wallets Bought Before Promotions
Bubblemaps described a recurring transaction pattern involving purchases before a public recommendation, followed by sales from suspected connected wallets.
In one example, the firm said a wallet publicly associated with Ethan purchased a token before three other addresses bought it during the same second. Researchers identified the wallets 6yVb4p, CLiXvf, GKMJwv, and 1chdHB.
Ethan allegedly promoted the token through Pump.fun after the purchases. Bubblemaps claimed that the suspected connected addresses then began selling, with similar sequences appearing across multiple recommendations in the analysis.
Bubblemaps characterized the alleged pattern as “buy → callout → sell from side wallets,” describing it as a recurring extraction scheme. However, these findings are based on its interpretation of transaction records, and the observed trading sequence alone does not establish common wallet ownership, coordinated activity, or market manipulation. Confirming these links would require additional evidence connecting the addresses to the same operator.
Related: South Korea to Force Crypto Influencers to Reveal Personal Holdings
