Celestia founder refutes FUD, stating that the big dump of tokens is a normal phenomenon in the industry.

According to Gate News bot, as reported by CoinTelegraph, Celestia co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam claimed that despite escalating allegations of misconduct, insider profits, and community distrust, the team remains committed and has the financial capacity to weather the storm.

Al-Bassam wrote in a post on X on Monday: "Despite the FUD, all the founders, early employees, and core engineers of Celestia are still here and working as hard as they did when Celestia was first established 5 years ago."

Al-Bassam claimed that the significant drop in tokens is a normal phenomenon in the industry. He also added that Celestia has strong long-term viability, citing "over $100 million in funding and more than 6 years of operation."

Previously, token holders and independent researchers have raised increasing criticism of this comment, claiming that the Celestia team and insiders sold off a large amount of TIA tokens, while retail investors bore the brunt of the token's 95% decline.

Insider profit-taking and misconduct

Al-Bassam's post is likely a response to a scathing X post by Startup Anthropologist. The post garnered over 200,000 views, accusing the Celestia team of collusive financial misconduct.

The post claims: "All executives unlocked earlier on October 24... Mustafa sold over 25 million on the over-the-counter market and then moved to Dubai."

The post further claims that some celebrities accepted bribes to promote the TIA token, while employees quietly sold off their holdings.

Another X user, Shrutebuck, criticized the timing of the unlock. "They rewarded early investors and themselves at the expense of retail investors, and then complained about 'ridiculous FUD' on the timeline when the token dropped by 98%."

Celestia's token unlock plan has also faced criticism. Another X user asked: "Why does your token unlock plan last for 3/4 years? I believe in ETH, not much else... but I don't trust those who will unlock all my tokens in 3 years."