Ripple‘s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David Schwartz recently commented on transactions that involved approximately 25.6 billion (nearly 15 billion US dollars) XRP. To recall the incident, due to a mix-up (some say it was an attack), half of the total circulating supply of XRP, which is about 54.26 billion, was reported to have been sent to an exchange. The mentioned transaction was indicated to have occurred as a result of a transfer from an unknown wallet to the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex by Whale Alert.
The XRP and Bitfinex Incident
Subsequent statements indicated that swift action was taken regarding the issue. According to Bitfinex’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Paolo Ardoino, the mentioned event was not a transaction but an exploitation of the “Partial Payments” feature in the XRP Ledger.
Whale Alert later made a statement:
There was an issue with the correct interpretation of Ripple node responses, which led to several incorrect postings. We have fixed the issue.
Ardoino clarified the matter:
Someone tried to attack Bitfinex through ‘Partial Payment Exploitation’. The attack failed because Bitfinex properly processed the ‘delivered_amount’ data field.
Ripple CTO’s Statement
Known on the internet as JoelKatz, Schwartz made a more comprehensive statement. Contrary to some claims that partial payment is a security vulnerability on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), he stated that the phrase ‘billions of XRP were moved’ did not reflect the truth.
Ripple’s CTO made the following statement:
The actual amount transferred was only worth a few cents. We thank Bitfinex and Paolo Ardoino for effectively neutralizing an exploitation attempt. What happened here is not a flaw or security vulnerability related to the XRP Ledger. The Partial Payments feature is a standard and secure financial tool.
Additionally, the CTO mentioned that Bitfinex handled the situation well and addressed the exploitation attempt properly, thereby preventing any problems. Schwartz:
Today’s blockage is a strong reminder for all institutions and applications – the importance of proper configuration and integration cannot be underestimated.
Current Status of XRP
The lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC, which has been ongoing for about 3 years, is putting significant pressure on the company’s native token, XRP. Two recent incidents have stirred different emotions regarding XRP. Initially, news about the company’s potential public offering created excitement in the market, while the transfer of billions of coins thought to be to Bitfinex caused fear.
As of the time of writing, the price of XRP was continuing to trade at $0.5765, a 0.08% increase. Since its inception, XRP has been trading in a different structure compared to most altcoins. Even the partial victory in the SEC case last year could not sustain its impact on the altcoin and led to a price decline.
