Crypto exchange Bittrex has been forced to pull their inaugural Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) for the XRD token after OP.GG, the gaming data company supposedly working with RAID, the company behind the token, announced that they had ceased working with RAID. The announcement of the severance came less than twenty-four hours before the sale was due to start and prompted suggestions that a deal had never been in place at all. The decision comes as something of an embarrassment for Bittrex who, like other exchanges, are trying to echo the Binance model of launching token sales on their platform.
Trust and integrity are the most valuable assets of Bittrex International. As a result of significant, last-minute changes with RAID, we have cancelled the IEO offering of the RAID token. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will provide a more complete statement shortly.
— Bittrex International (@BittrexIntl) March 14, 2019
Boom Goes the IEO
Questions had already been raised about the project, with some researchers unable to verify the existence of the token-issuing company and very few details available about the tokenomics available online. The name of the token was also changed at the last minute from XRD to RAID, while the RAID Twitter account was only set up in February, pointing to a very ramshackle operation. Sure enough, Bittrex’s chickens came home to roost when they were forced to abanon the plan, pointing out their reasons in a blog post following the announcement:
We decided to cancel the IEO as a result of significant changes in the business status of RAID. Specifically, a few hours ago, OP.GG terminated its strategic partnership with RAID, which was a vital part of the RAID project. When Bittrex International became aware of this significant event, we did not feel that it was in the best interest of our customers to move forward with the IEO.
Further details were available from the OP.GG website who posted a short notice on their website describing their association, or lack of it, with RAID:
OP.GG has stopped all potential business discussions related to RAID project and there will be no economic and technical cooperation with RAID coin. In addition, OP.GG has no intention of developing any blockchain related business utilizing RIOT GAMES data. OP.GG will take all possible legal measures against individuals or organizations disseminating false facts related to this. Thank you.
Punters not Best Pleased
The response to the news was unsurprisingly scathing, with many questioning Bittrex’s due diligence in picking their first IEO partner:
You guys couldn’t do simple research to know these partnerships were non existent? I’m honestly ashamed that a big reputable exchanges such as yourself can be myopic
— DiddycarterICO (@DIddycarterIco) March 14, 2019
More like: “Sorry we didn’t do our homework and got this out of nowhere and absolutely had no clue what we were doing”. Didn’t even get the tokenomics right.
Please don’t waste my time like this again with scam projects like this Bittrex.
— CryptoGold (@Crypt0Go1d) March 14, 2019
It can only be hoped that Bittrex has learnt from this chastening experience and that their next (or first, again) IEO involves some more due diligence and proves to be an act of redemption for the exchange.
