Plasma’s founder, Paul Faecks, stated that no team member sold XPL after the token fell sharply between 28 September and 1 October 2025. The token lost over 51% as on-chain watchers flagged large transfers from the project’s vault to centralized exchanges, a move that hurt retail holders and exchange depth. It combines public posts and chain data indicating hundreds of millions of XPL moved from the vault to venues.
XPL slid from $1.70 on 28 September to $0.83 on 1 October, a drop of more than 51%. On-chain tracers logged 600 million XPL leaving the vault, with 250 million reaching Binance and 120 million reaching Bitfinex. The vault address 0x000000000000000000000000000000000A11B004 appears in every transfer, anchoring the flow of funds across transactions.
Observers saw small, staggered sell orders and alleged a TWAP-style split to limit price impact. Separately, a trader on Hyperliquid pushed through $15 million in contracts, forcing liquidations that added extra selling, compounding pressure alongside heavy exchange inflows and thin order books.
On-chain flows and market dynamics
Community accounts including ManaMoon and crypto_popseye named Wintermute as a receiver; Faecks replied that the team sent nothing to Wintermute and reiterated: “No team members had engaged in the sale of XPL tokens.” The Plasma team denied links to any flagged project and said staff as well as investor tokens stay locked for one year and then vest for three, defending treasury controls amid scrutiny.
Users now ask for proof that vault coins stay locked, reflecting a demand for verifiable constraints on treasury movement. Heavy exchange inflows and thin books raise volatility and increase liquidation risk as market depth erodes.
Claims of market maker ties push the project to publish full treasury data and clarify counterparties.
The next step is a public list of transfer destinations and verifiable lock-up code, and Plasma’s reputation rests on that evidence as the project faces calls for transparency and on-chain accountability.
