Quick Overview:
- Whale Alert reports over $147 billion in XRP transferred to Binance and Bitfinex.
- Bitfinex CEO clarifies the situation, revealing an attempted “Partial Payments Attack.”
Whale Alert’s Astonishing Claim
Yello Paradisers! Whale Alert, a service known for tracking large cryptocurrency transactions, recently reported an eye-popping transfer of over $147 billion worth of Ripple (XRP) to major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitfinex. This claim, however, raised eyebrows due to the sheer size of the transaction.
The Impossibility of the Claim
A closer examination reveals that such a transfer is implausible, given that the total circulation of XRP stands at 54 billion coins. This discrepancy has led to questions about the accuracy of Whale Alert’s claim and the nature of the transactions reported.
Bitfinex CEO Responds
Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Bitfinex, addressed the situation, explaining that the exchange experienced an attempted “Partial Payments Attack.” This type of attack involves exploiting the “Partial Payments” feature in Ripple, which allows senders to deliver less than the full amount specified in a transaction.
Thwarting the Attack
Bitfinex’s systems successfully countered the attack by correctly processing the ‘delivered_amount’ data field, preventing any fraudulent activity. Ardoino’s clarification sheds light on the situation, confirming that the reported $147 billion transfer was, in fact, an attempted exploit rather than a legitimate transaction.
Understanding Partial Payments
The “Partial Payments” feature in Ripple’s system is designed to provide flexibility in transactions. However, it can be exploited to create the illusion of larger transfers, as seen in this attempted attack on Bitfinex and Binance.
