The Arbitrum decentralized exchange AlienFi’s cancelation of the Xirtam token’s initial airdrop offering (IAO) just minutes before its scheduled launch has caused controversy in the crypto community.
While it’s unclear who was responsible for the cancelation, AlienFi alleged in a series of screenshots shared on Twitter that Xirtam had conducted a seed sale at a price 3x+ below the Fjord price, which wasn’t known to the AlienFi development team. After discovering the event, Xirtam decided to cancel the IAO, resulting in a pricing dispute.
Xirtam had previously scheduled a two-part presale with liquidity protocol Fjord Foundry and a private-public sale with AlienFi. The IAO with AlienFi was scheduled for April 26, aiming to raise 350 ETH for 50 million Xirtam tokens.
The cancelation has sparked controversy, with some members of the crypto community questioning the transparency and fairness of the process. While IAOs are a relatively new fundraising mechanism, their growing popularity has led to concerns about price manipulation and the potential for projects to mislead investors.
AlienFi responded to the situation, saying that it was “committed to the integrity and fairness of the AlienFi platform” and would continue to “work with projects that share our values of transparency, security, and innovation.”
Xirtam has not released a public statement on the matter, and it’s unclear whether the IAO will be rescheduled or canceled altogether.
