Plasma CEO denies team allocation sales amid XPL token drop

Plasma’s XPL token has fallen 45% from its peak, and founder Paul Faecks has denied rumors of insider selling, market maker ties, or team exits.

The volatility followed XPL’s rapid rise after its late September launch. The token debuted around $1.00, quickly surged to an all-time high of $1.69 by Sept. 28, and then slipped back to $0.74–$1.08 within days.

The sharp decline sparked accusations on social media that Plasma insiders had sold large allocations, pointing to the team’s past ties with Blast and Blur, as well as speculation about involvement from market maker Wintermute.

Addressing the Plasma token sale

On Oct. 1, Plasma co-founder and CEO Paul Faecks addressed the claims directly on X. He said no member of the team or early investors has sold any XPL, since their allocations are subject to a three-year lockup with a one-year cliff. “All investor and team XPL is locked,” he noted, adding that circulating supply has only come from the public sale and liquidity allocations.

On questions about team composition, Faecks stressed that only three of Plasma’s roughly 50 employees had any connection to Blur or Blast. He highlighted that the team also includes professionals with experience at Google, Facebook, Square, Goldman Sachs, and Temasek, saying it was misleading to label Plasma as “ex-Blast.”

He also addressed speculation about Wintermute, stating that Plasma “has not engaged Wintermute as a market maker and has never contracted Wintermute for any of their services.” He emphasized that the company has no insider information about Wintermute’s token holdings beyond what is publicly visible.

Building beyond the FUD

The statement comes after a highly publicized token generation event on Sept. 25 that attracted more than $3 billion in trading volume within hours and listings on major exchanges including Binance, OKX, and Upbit. 

Plasma raised $373 million in July through a public sale, well above its $50 million target, which helped fuel the hype around launch. With $2 billion in stablecoin total value locked and more than 100 decentralized finance integrations at mainnet beta, the project positioned itself as a specialized layer 1 chain for stablecoins.

Despite the strong fundamentals, community concerns intensified as early profit-taking combined with large wallet transfers visible on-chain. Some critics labeled the launch unfair to retail buyers, while others accused the team of fueling a “whale-sale.”

Faecks’ message sought to ease those doubts by reiterating that Plasma’s focus is on long-term infrastructure rather than short-term speculation.

For now, XPL trades roughly 40–45% below its peak. Whether the founder’s reassurances calm the market may depend on continued transparency, sustained adoption of Plasma’s stablecoin ecosystem, and broader conditions in the altcoin market.