XPMarket CEO Accuses Bitstamp of ‘Rug Pull’ on XRP Community
Dr. Artur Kirjakulov, CEO and founder of XPMarket, has accused Bitstamp of executing a "rug pull" against the XRP community, sparking debate over Bitstamp’s reliability in XRPL-based financial instruments.
Has Bitstamp Rug Pulled The XRP Community?
On November 17, Dr. Kirjakulov expressed concerns on X about Bitstamp's actions, claiming it withdrew over 90% of liquidity from USD/XRP and BTC/XRP AMM Pools, which he described as a silent maneuver that jeopardized the XRPL community's stability.
The lack of a formal statement from Bitstamp or RippleX concerning this liquidity withdrawal raises uncertainty, potentially leading to volatile trading conditions and significant price impacts for these asset pairs.
Kirjakulov noted that Ripple owns equity in Bitstamp, suggesting that this relationship could influence Bitstamp’s decisions in the XRPL space. He expressed concerns regarding the assurance of a 1:1 conversion rate for Bitstamp-issued wrapped assets, referencing the Stably incident where such guarantees were not honored.
The allegations prompted skepticism from Daniel Keller, CTO at Eminence, who questioned the legitimacy of the accounts tied to the liquidity pools, pointing out that they were activated via Binance, which was unusual for Bitstamp. Kirjakulov countered that the accounts are indeed linked to Bitstamp and are involved in market-making for niche tokens.
Keller requested more concrete evidence to support Kirjakulov's claims, emphasizing the importance of activation accounts in establishing an exchange's identity. Kirjakulov acknowledged the circumstantial nature of the evidence but insisted it pointed clearly toward Bitstamp due to their unique asset issuance.
The discussion included Bitstamp’s IOU services, with Michael Nardolillo defending the exchange’s regulatory status and redeemability of its IOUs. Kirjakulov responded by highlighting past industry failures, stating there is no guarantee of 1:1 conversion from Bitstamp or GateHub, questioning the proof of funds.
Nardolillo provided a screenshot from Bitstamp’s website explaining their IOU service, which allows users to transfer value on the XRP Ledger. Kirjakulov identified a critical issue, noting that the service does not guarantee 1:1 conversion rates, raising concerns about potential depegging scenarios.
As of press time, the XRP community awaits an official response from Bitstamp, with XRP trading at $1.15.
