Bitstamp apologizes calling XRP toxic waste

Ryan Selkis, the founder and CEO of intelligence firm Messari, is taking some heat from holders and fans of cryptocurrencies after he labelled the digital assets as “toxic.”

Bitstamp, digital asset exchange has apologized for sharing a crypto market report that it claims does not reflect the company’s opinions or values.

In a Bitstamp tweet posted today, the exchange issued an apology for releasing research firm Messari’s “Crypto Theses for 2021” report by Ryan Selkis. The report is referred to as the XRP “toxic waste”.

Bitstamp has removed the original tweet the company posted following the report’s release on December 8, referring to parts of the report’s “language and content” inconsistent with the company’s values. The company added that it believed that some aspects were disrespectful to “part of the community.”

In response, Messari’s CEO said on Twitter that he was humorous to keep readers engaged; the report is 134 pages long. However, he did not back down his views on XRP, adding that he was unlikely to change his mind in the future.

Members of the XRP “army” generally supported Bitstamp’s statement, calling it a “quick and thoughtful reaction.” The exchange may have responded to the Selkis’ views on XRP or the seemingly unprofessional language used in the report.

 Ripple community has threatened Selkis before

In last year’s “Crypto Theses for 2020”, Selkis said he hated XRP, however did not label it as toxic. At the time he said that XRP had tremendous and remarkable staying power.

Samson Mow, the head of the strategy at Blockstream, a well-known Bitcoin maximalist and opponent of “shitcoins,” stepped in to defend Messari’s CEO. He argued that Selkis did nothing wrong.

However, Bitstamp’s decision to “cancel” Selkis was supported by other Twitter users.

This is not the first time the Messari CEO has come under attack from the XRP “army”. January 2019, he allegedly received threatening phone calls after the company published a critical analysis of XRP. The company researched and concluded that the market value of XRP might be grossly overstated.

Ryan Selkis accused the Ripple community of threats to his family.