On Aug. 28, crypto investigator ZachXBT sparked a controversy by accusing XRP holders of being “exit liquidity” for insiders. His claim prompted counter-allegations from a researcher that ZachXBT’s hostility stems from a rejected offer to work for Ripple.
The ‘Exit Liquidity’ Rationale
The online crypto sleuth ZachXBT stirred a hornet’s nest on Aug. 28 when he suggested that XRP holders are a willing conduit used by Ripple insiders to scam unsuspecting users. ZachXBT made the remarks while responding to an X user, Miguel Morales, who had requested the crypto sleuth’s assistance in tracking a scammer who stole more than $33,000 in digital assets from his Trust wallet.
According to Morales’ now-deleted post on X, the scammer struck while the he was “trying to do a Midnight Claim using XRP.” Replying to Morales’ request for help, ZachXBT not only said he is “not currently assisting the XRP community,” but he also promised to mock any XRP holders who similarly attempt to seek his assistance. Asked why the crypto sleuth had taken this position, ZachXBT said:
Ripple holders provide nothing of value to the industry except exit liquidity for insiders thus are not worth supporting (Likewise with Cardano, Pulsechain, Hedera, etc).
The crypto sleuth also implied that his stance on XRP is consistent with his long-standing position of discriminating against what he called multi-level marketing (MLM) chains. The attack on the XRP community won ZachXBT plaudits from critics of the digital asset and XRP Ledger. Still others questioned why the crypto sleuth was being so harsh.
The Ripple Job Offer and The Aftermath
According to Ripple Van Winkle, a crypto researcher on X, ZachXBT’s criticism of XRP is not based on objective industry analysis. Instead, the researcher claims that the attack stems from a long-standing grudge ZachXBT holds after Ripple rejected his offer to work for them.
“He pitched himself as the guy who could ‘clean house’ on-chain—tracking stolen funds, sniffing out exploits, and tightening up Ripple’s image. He even bragged about his detective work and told people in private that Ripple would be ‘lucky’ to have him,” Ripple Van Winkle claimed.
According to this researcher, Ripple executives not only had confidence in their compliance teams and investigators but were also worried that onboarding ZachXBT “would create more headlines than solutions.” The researcher insinuated that ZachXBT is seeking revenge on Ripple, seizing every opportunity to dismiss anything positive about the company or its token, XRP.
“That rejection festered. Instead of moving on, Zach turned bitter. Every Ripple partnership announcement? He downplays it. Every XRP pump? He calls it insider games. And his followers eat it up, not knowing the root of his anger isn’t really about ‘exit liquidity’… it’s that Ripple wouldn’t let him in the door,” the researcher explained in an X post.
At the time of writing, ZachXBT had not responded to Ripple Van Winkle’s sensational claims.
Author: Terence Zimwara
Source: Bitcoin
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
