The exchange apologised on Twitter for posting a report that labelled Ripple (XRP) a ‘toxic waste’ among many other negative comments
Bitstamp posted a 134-page report compiled by Messari yesterday without knowing it had demeaning descriptions of some tokens. The exchange later expressed regret for sharing the report titled “Crypto Theses for 2021″ after realising the coarse language used therein. A section of the report described Ripple’s native token as ‘toxic waste’.
The crypto exchange explained that the report didn’t, in any way, reflect its view of the digital asset space. Bitstamp issued an apology through a Twitter thread acknowledging it was at fault for not reading through the report.
“Yesterday we posted a syndicated report by Messari, parts of which contained language and content that does not reflect Bitstamp’s views or values. We would like to apologise for that. We did not complete a thorough enough review of the 130+ page report before it was published. This is on us, we should have done better”, part of the thread read.
Messari’s founder and chief executive, Ryan Selkis, was not short of censure and reproach when referring to certain tokens.
“These are toxic assets propped up by regulatory capture, and they go against everything that got me into crypto”, he wrote.
Bitstamp also took down the original tweet that it had shared along with the report. The digital assets exchange distanced itself from the ‘language and content’ of the report, saying it didn’t embody the firm’s values. The exchange admitted that the report was disrespectful to a faction of its community.
“Our goal with sponsoring crypto research reports is to bring a diverse variety of viewpoints and insights to the public free of charge (even if they do not fully reflect our own views) but only so far as they are not disrespectful toward any part of the community”.
On his end, the Messari chief executive explained that he was aiming at a light-hearted and jocular tone to ensure the readers were engaged throughout the lengthy report.
“The issue is that @Bitstamp may have expected a more cerebral ‘Pro’ piece from our analysts vs. the yearly TBI hot takes. I don’t blame them for being caught off guard”, he posted.