- However, Whale Alert later removed the post, citing issues with reading the Ripple node response, leaving many confused.
- Whale Alert, a cryptocurrency transaction monitoring account, initially reported a massive transfer of 25.6 billion XRP.
- A purported transaction of nearly $15 billion worth of XRP from an unknown wallet to Bitfinex exchange was part of a failed exploit.
According to recent reports, a purported transaction of nearly $15 billion worth of XRP from an unknown wallet to the Bitfinex exchange on January 14 was revealed to be part of a failed “partial payments exploit” attempt. The incident was initially flagged by the blockchain tracking account Whale Alert.
Whale Alert, known for monitoring cryptocurrency transactions, initially reported a transaction of 25.6 billion XRP, which accounted for nearly half of XRP’s total circulating supply, from an unidentified wallet to Bitfinex. The news of such a colossal transfer raised eyebrows and stirred speculation about its potential implications for the XRP market.
However, the situation quickly evolved as Whale Alert removed the post and clarified that there had been “an issue with properly reading the Ripple node response, resulting in a few wrong posts.” This retraction left many puzzled and seeking answers.
Bitfinex’s Chief Technology Officer, Paolo Ardoino, shed light on the situation. He explained that someone had attempted to attack Bitfinex through what is known as a “partial payments exploit.” The attacker seemingly anticipated that Bitfinex had misconfigured its software to process partial payments, making it vulnerable to exploitation.
The incident led to a swift reaction from the cryptocurrency community. Notably, popular crypto YouTuber Ben Armstrong issued an emergency video addressing the situation. In the video, he urged viewers not to sell their XRP. Additionally, he characterized the incident as an orchestrated attempt to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) in the XRP market.
Armstrong emphasized that the reported transaction of 25.6 billion XRP was highly improbable, given XRP’s total maximum supply of 100 billion, with a significant portion held in escrow and the largest individual wallet containing only 5 billion XRP.
He stressed the need for caution within the XRP community and encouraged people to verify information from reliable sources before making any hasty decisions. Armstrong suggested that the incident might be a hack of the Whale Alert account or the dissemination of inaccurate information with the intention of manipulating XRP’s price.
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