Celestia’s native token, TIA, surged over 11% on Tuesday, defying a storm of community criticism over insider sales, alleged early token unlocks, and internal controversy.

The rally follows a direct response from co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam, who confirmed that Celestia has over $100 million in reserves, enough to fund operations for over six years.

Celestia Under Fire over Unlock Timeline and Insider Sales Claims

Reports indicate that co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam sold over $25 million tokens via over-the-counter (OTC) deals.

“Mustafa frantically dumped $25 million OTC and fled to Dubai to lay low Andy took money to pump, suspected of calling buys at the peak to offload Yaz was kicked out directly due to sexual harassment, leaving the crypto scene Nick and Abril are playing their duet in Paris… So, really, don’t talk ideals with projects; the script was written long ago, and the wallet is king,” one X user claimed.

The news came alongside reports of an unlock that gives the project’s executive team full access to their token allocations. Crypto commentator AB Kuai alleged that top executives fully unlocked and sold off their TIA last October. The analyst also claims that lower-level members unlocked TIA early by the end of that month.

Notably, some Celestia builders, including Nick White, have denied these claims in the past. Notwithstanding, Celestia reportedly paid a hefty sum to an English-speaking influencer to shill, alongside allegations that former Developer Relations Lead Yaz was dismissed due to sexual harassment.

Celestia’s Al-Bassam responded, and while he did not directly deny the allegations, he reasserted the team’s resilience and long-term focus.

“Despite the FUD (which is getting more ridiculous by the day), all Celestia founders, early employees and core engineers are still here and working as hard as we did when Celestia started 5 years ago,” he wrote.

No Crying in the Casino, Says Al-Bassam

Al-Bassam sidestepped the specifics regarding the accusations of financial mismanagement and premature sales. The Celestia executive explained that all tokens have a 95% drawdown at some point in their lifecycle.

“I’ve been in crypto since 2010 and it’s not new to me that you have to have a thick skin and eat gravel to survive,” Al-Bassam explained.

The crypto executive also revealed a war chest of more than $100 million, alongside a 6+ year runway, which, in his opinion, positions the network “to play the long game, for as long as it takes.”

His tone echoed earlier sentiments from May, when he addressed the fear that many founders feel during market downturns:

“A lot of founders tweeting less these days because price is down and scared of an angry horde of token holders replying etc. No crying in the casino applies to insiders too, so come ratio me all you want… I’m here to eat shit as a masochist,” Al-Bassam said in May.

Market Shrugs as TIA Price Climbs Double Digits

Despite the controversy, TIA posted a double-digit gain, suggesting that traders are unfazed by the accusations or bet on Celestia’s long-term vision.

The confirmed $100 million treasury and extended runway have tempered immediate fears, even as questions about insider behavior and governance remain.

BeInCrypto data shows TIA is up by over 11% on this news, and was trading for $1.56 as of this writing.

Still, investor scrutiny is unlikely to fade with the October unlock on the horizon. Will Celestia maintain momentum? Likely not amid prevailing cautious sentiment in the market, especially for altcoins.

This rally may prove a dead cat bounce, presenting as a temporary recovery in the price of a declining asset, followed by a continuation of the downtrend. This assumption comes as investor sentiment is likely to hinge less on war chests and more on transparency.

“TIA, calculated from its peak, has currently dropped by 92%,” analysts at Foresight News noted.

A recent proposal indicates the Celestia community plans to experiment with a Proof-of-Governance (PoG) mechanism. The proposal comes despite the allegations of investors with lockup stake-dumping, but some users laud developers for their efforts.

A PoG model is where governance, not stake, selects validators. They proposed it as the logical terminus for liquid staking token (LST) evolution, redefining economic security in PoS (Proof-of-Stake) systems, eliminating unnecessary issuance while preserving validator incentives.