Backlash over Cap’s reduced payout and revised eligibility rules has triggered heavy cUSD withdrawals and renewed scrutiny of a wallet tied by critics to Benjamin Peillard’s past network.
Cap’s reversal on its long-trailed Stabledrop has sparked a user backlash, steep withdrawals and fresh accusations over preferential treatment, deepening scrutiny of the cUSD issuer’s handling of incentives. The company cut the promised payout to $4.2 million from about $12 million and redirected the smaller pool toward making Pendle yield token holders whole, excluding early cUSD users and liquidity providers who had expected to benefit. Founder Benjamin Sarquis Peillard apologized for tying the original February figure to an unconfirmed $250 million token valuation. In a Monday X post, he said Cap had promised an amount that was not realistic and defended the revised plan on the basis that “nobody would take a loss, but at the same time, nobody would make a profit.” The change drew harsh criticism and claims of insider advantage after users linked one of the largest YT-buying wallets to QiDAO’s “Working capital account 2,” a connection Peillard denied. He said the address belongs to an old colleague and close friend who is not affiliated with Cap. Critics remained skeptical, pointing to ENS activity involving megaben.eth and caplabs.eth and to the timing of the wallet’s YT accumulation before the original criteria were announced. The fallout has also hit Cap on-chain. Peillard said withdrawals totaled $23 million, reducing assets from $80 million to $57 million, while adding that $11 million of liquidity remained instantly available through the Steakhouse and Gauntlet vaults and that there was “nothing structurally wrong with the loans or backing.” Cap’s cUSD stablecoin, which had exceeded $400 million near the end of January before the original Stabledrop announcement, now stands at about $62 million.