Bitstamp filed a legal complaint over $1m in disputed funds from a 96m XRP sale allegedly made by Jed McCaleb in violation of his agreement with Ripple Labs. McCaleb, who co-founded Ripple before leaving to establish Stellar, claims the XRP were gifted to family members before the agreement was finalized.
Bitstamp initiated an interpleader lawsuit in US District Court over $1,038,172 in disputed funds from the sale of 96.3m XRP in March 2015. Ripple Labs claims the sale violated a 2014 agreement with co-founder Jed McCaleb limiting his XRP sales to $10,000 per week initially, scaling over seven years. McCaleb, who later founded Stellar as a fork of Ripple, allegedly intended to use the proceeds to purchase Stellar tokens. Ripple Labs purchased the XRP to prevent the sale and is demanding the funds back. McCaleb counters that the XRP were gifted to family members before the agreement took effect. Bitstamp froze the accounts and asked the court to determine rightful ownership while protecting itself from future litigation.