Cap Labs, publisher of cUSD, is in damage control mode after an unpopular reversal of its long-awaited stabledrop program.
The changes, announced Friday, were met with harsh criticism, substantial withdrawals and accusations of insider trading.
Cap founder Benjamin Peillard has been forced to defend the company’s actions and try to distance himself from a wallet accused of receiving preferential treatment.
The project bills itself as a “three-sided platform for USD revenues, private credit and financial guarantees.” It is currently offering almost 5% on USDC deposits to back its stablecoin cUSD.
However, the promise of “verifiable results” apparently did not apply to the $12 million set aside in February for the “first stablecoin airdrop” for early users.
U-turn
Friday’s announcement made it clear that instead of the promised $12 million, it would now only be $4.2 million. Instead of rewarding early cUSD users and liquidity providers, it would focus on healing those who lost money on Pendle yield tokens (YTs).
The news was not well received. Respondents were undeterred and called the team ‘scammers’ and ‘shameless’.
However, some went further and linked the address of one of YT’s largest buyers to Peillard’s previous project QiDAO’s ‘Working capital account 2’.
The recoil was also felt in the chain.
To date, there have been $23 million in withdrawals ($80 million -> $57 million). There is still $11 million in liquidity readily available through the steakhouse and glove safes.
Again, there is nothing structurally wrong with the loans or the support. https://t.co/j23YjnK9C1 pic.twitter.com/d4sM3R8Wrl
– ilemi (@andrewhong5297) July 13, 2026
In a message to He reiterated the decision that “no one would make a loss, but at the same time no one would make a profit.”
The post also attempts to debunk the allegations of self-dealing by stating that the wallet belongs to an “old colleague not affiliated with Cap… [but] is still a good friend.”
However, many are still not convinced that the address struck the ENS handle megaben.eth two years ago, before being transferred to another address which then struck caplabs.eth.
Another user also questioned the timing of the address’s YT accumulation, which would have made “substantial gains” according to the original stabledrop criteria, before it was announced.
Cap’s stablecoin cUSD peaked at over $400 million in late January, just before the original stabledrop was announced. Currently it stands at about $62 million.