$OFC I think the chips have already become extremely concentrated. On top of this, doing any further excessive wash trading would only let people like me—die-hard fans—get the spot at an even cheaper price.

Just look at the current chip concentration: around 96% on both chains. Once contracts are launched, who would still be able to short?
We die-hard retail investors, with only a few tens of thousands of coins—what kind of chip influence could we possibly have? Don’t be ridiculous. Even if you pump it to a price higher than the Rave level, by the time the World Cup comes around, everything will be normal as can be—everything will be business as usual.
I think the main team and the project side must have introduced some market makers so they can collect the chips themselves, with a commitment that they won’t dump the order book.
Before the World Cup, they launch contracts—I think nobody will waste this opportunity.