Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex said it canceled an “initial exchange offering” (IEO) just hours before it was set to launch.

The RAID Project had planned to raise $6 million through the sale of a token called XRD to the exchange’s customers. But Bittrex said it called off the sale after learning that the issuer’s strategic partnership with an e-gaming data analytics company OP.GG had been abruptly terminated.

That alliance “was a vital part of the RAID project,” Bittrex said in a statement. “When Bittrex International became aware of this significant event, we did not feel that it was in the best interest of our customers to move forward with the IEO.”

For its part RAID claimed that it, and not Bittrex, pulled the offering, saying:

“RAID Project Team decided that it would not be right to proceed as scheduled on March 15 with Bittrex IEO due to the current changes. Therefore, after a discussion with Bittrex, RAID Team came to a final decision to not proceed with IEO.”

RAID also said it would issue refunds “as soon as possible” to to investors who participated in a previous token sale, conducted through a platform called Cobak.

Conflicting statements

In a statement on its website, OP.GG suggested the partnership with RAID was never even a done deal, saying:

“OP.GG has stopped all potential business discussions related to RAID project and there will be no economic and technical cooperation with RAID coin. In addition, OP.GG has no intention of developing any blockchain related business utilizing RIOT GAMES data. OP.GG will take all possible legal measures against individuals or organizations disseminating false facts related to this. [Emphasis added.]”

However, according to CCN and Coinspeaker, the founders of RAID, Cheonwoo Park and Taesung Kim, were also the CEO and CSO of OP.GG.

The token was originally pitched as a measure to “give data ownership back to users using blockchain technology” using a game data ecosystem.  The project was also going to use the token to develop new gaming-related businesses such as game marketing, game data analysis and game distribution platform.

While much remains unclear about the relationship between OP.GG and RAID and why it unraveled, Bittrex said the cancelation was the prudent move, concluding:

“Bittrex remains vigilant to ensure the integrity of our markets. … When we become aware of significant events, we respond quickly to protect our users.”

Bittrex chief strategy officer Kiran Raj image via CoinDesk archives