Trove Markets is under growing pressure from its community after abruptly changing direction just weeks after raising more than $11.5 million in a token sale. The project, which had been marketed around a planned integration with Hyperliquid, has now announced it will instead build on Solana—a move that has left many backers frustrated and asking for refunds.
Why Trove Changed Course
Trove explained the decision in a post on X on Friday, saying that shifting circumstances forced the team to rethink its original plan.
According to one of the project’s builders, who goes by the name “Unwise,” the turning point came when a key liquidity partner pulled a commitment of 500,000 Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens. Those tokens were required to support Trove’s planned integration with Hyperliquid.
“That changes our constraints,” Unwise wrote. “We’re no longer building on Hyperliquid rails, so we’re rebuilding the perpetual DEX on Solana from the ground up.”
The TROVE token sale ran from January 8 to January 11, with the token generation event now scheduled for Monday at 4:00 pm UTC. Trove says the move to Solana—combined with processing refund requests—has pushed back parts of its original timeline.
“Due to the move to Solana and the refund processing, we need more time to execute this correctly,” the team said.
Backers Push Back
The announcement has reignited scrutiny of Trove’s earlier funding decisions. In November, the project raised a separate $20 million to acquire the same 500,000 HYPE tokens, which were needed for Hyperliquid’s mandatory HIP-3 stake—a slashable bond designed to secure new perpetual markets.
For critics, walking away from Hyperliquid after making that commitment raises serious trust concerns.
Several contributors have taken to X to demand refunds, arguing that they backed a Hyperliquid-based product, not a Solana-native one.
“People did not invest in your ICO for you to launch on Solana,” one user wrote. Others have called on Trove to return funds and relaunch under a revised, clearer roadmap.
Extra Scrutiny Around Funds
The controversy has been further fueled by activity flagged by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who pointed out Trove-linked transfers involving HYPE tokens sent to casino deposit addresses. While no wrongdoing has been proven, the flagged transactions have added to community unease about how funds are being handled.
A Bigger Question of Trust and Governance
Trove’s troubles extend beyond the Solana pivot. As previously reported, the token sale itself became chaotic toward the end.
The team initially announced the sale had raised over $11.5 million and said pro-rata refunds would be offered ahead of the token generation event. Shortly after, Trove said it would extend the ICO to improve distribution—only to reverse that decision hours later, calling the extension a mistake.
The team later admitted that feedback from early supporters and large allocators influenced the brief change, a series of reversals that left many participants confused and questioning the project’s governance.
What Trove Is Building
Despite the backlash, Trove says its long-term vision hasn’t changed. The project aims to build a perpetual trading platform centered on collectibles like Pokémon cards and Counter-Strike 2 skins—a niche Bitwise estimated last year could grow into a $21.4 billion market.
Trove argues that Solana’s infrastructure is better suited to support that vision. For now, however, the project faces an uphill battle to regain trust from early backers who feel the rules changed after they had already committed their money.
