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XPL Token Under Fire: 600M Tokens Sent to Exchanges, Insider Rumors Swirl
XPL Token Drops – The launch of Plasma’s mainnet beta and its native token XPL initially ignited excitement in the crypto community—but within days, that enthusiasm gave way to suspicion and controversy as the token lost more than 50% of its value. Now, project founder Paul Faecks is speaking out, denying allegations of insider selling and seeking to reassure the community amid growing scrutiny.
Plasma officially launched its mainnet beta on September 25, with the XPL token debuting at nearly $1.70. But by the following Wednesday, the price had plummeted to $0.83, wiping out a significant portion of its early market cap. The sudden crash led to heated speculation across social platforms, with some community members alleging the team may have orchestrated a TWAP-style sell-off that flooded the market and outpaced retail demand.
Faecks: “No Team Members Have Sold Any XPL”
In a statement released Thursday, Faecks firmly denied any insider token sales. He emphasized that all investor and team allocations are locked for three years, with a one-year cliff in place.
“No team members have sold any XPL,” said Faecks, pushing back against what he described as unfounded speculation.
Despite the founder’s reassurances, doubts continued to swirl as on-chain analysts pointed to suspicious activity from addresses linked to the Plasma team’s vault.
Blockchain Sleuth Flags Large Token Transfers
Independent on-chain analyst ManaMoon revealed that a Plasma team wallet transferred over 600 million XPL tokens to exchanges in the days leading up to the mainnet launch. ManaMoon suggested that these movements aligned with TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price) selling tactics—an algorithmic strategy that breaks up large orders to execute them incrementally over time.
Of the tokens moved, around 250 million XPL were confirmed to have hit exchange wallets, with 120 million landing on Bitfinex and 260 million distributed across other centralized platforms.
These volumes raised alarms, with some community members questioning whether Plasma used ecosystem tokens—which were not subject to the same lockups as team allocations—to execute stealthy liquidations.
Wintermute Dragged Into the Controversy
One particularly vocal community member, crypto_popseye, accused the Plasma team of collaborating with algorithmic trading firm Wintermute, blaming them for the price collapse. In response, Faecks made it clear that Plasma has no formal relationship with Wintermute.
“We have not engaged Wintermute as a market maker and have never contracted with Wintermute for any of their services,” Faecks clarified.
He also emphasized that the Plasma team only has access to public information regarding Wintermute’s holdings of XPL, distancing the project from any coordinated activity.
Ecosystem Tokens in the Spotlight
Even after Faecks’ statement, concerns remained. Crypto_popseye questioned the deliberate language used in the denial, suggesting that while team allocations may be untouched, “ecosystem and growth” tokens could have been sold without violating the lock-up conditions.
According to Plasma’s tokenomics, 40% of the 10 billion XPL supply—equal to 4 billion tokens—was reserved for ecosystem and growth initiatives. Of that, 800 million XPL unlocked immediately at the beta launch to support liquidity provision, DeFi incentives, and exchange integrations. The remaining 3.2 billion tokens will unlock gradually over three years, reaching full release by September 2028.
XPL Token Utility and Public Sale Details
The XPL token plays a central role within the Plasma network, powering transaction settlements, staking rewards, and ecosystem incentives. During the public sale on July 17, 10% of the total supply was allocated to participants in the deposit campaign.
Tokens purchased by non-U.S. buyers unlocked immediately at mainnet beta launch, whereas U.S. buyers face a 12-month lock-up ending in July 2026.
Despite these mechanisms, the token’s early price action and transfer history have triggered a trust crisis among community members, who now call for greater transparency around future token movements and ecosystem spending.
What started as a highly anticipated Layer-1 launch has quickly become a stress test of community faith and tokenomics integrity. As XPL trades well below its post-launch highs, the project now faces mounting pressure to disclose more details and rebuild investor confidence.
Whether the TWAP allegations, Wintermute rumors, or ecosystem token usage prove to be turning points—or just turbulence in a typical early-stage token journey—remains to be seen. For now, all eyes are on Plasma’s next move.
