Fact Check: Is Coinbase Manipulating the XRP Price?

A popular claim circulating in the XRP community alleges that Coinbase is deliberately manipulating the price of XRP. The theory centers around Coinbase sharply reducing its XRP holdings and coordinating large sales to suppress XRP’s market price.

Who Made the XRP Manipulation Claim Against Coinbase?

The allegations primarily come from an XRP community member known as Stern Drew, who analyzed on-chain data via XRPScan. Drew argues that Coinbase cut its XRP stash by 70%, routing sales through multiple wallets during low-liquidity hours to mask flows.

According to Drew, these moves coincided with XRP price dips, signaling engineered suppression to benefit institutional buyers allegedly connected with Wall Street and BlackRock.

Theory of Coinbase Manipulating XRP Price

Drew’s theory includes several key assertions:

• Tactical Selling – Coinbase is not just selling but doing so during low-liquidity periods to maximize downward pressure.
  
• Fragmented Wallets – Sales are routed through multiple wallets to disguise the source.
  
• Correlation with Price Levels – Drew claims a 0.87 correlation between Coinbase’s XRP outflows and XRP’s repeated failure to break resistance around $1.20.
  
• Institutional Ties – Significant XRP flows allegedly ended up at OTC desks linked to financial institutions.
  
• Coinbase’s Motive – Drew speculates Coinbase may be protecting ETH (due to its ties with Ethereum Foundation affiliates) and aligning with traditional banking interests.

What Does the Evidence Show?

1. No Official Confirmation or Legal Findings

No regulator, court, or Coinbase statement has ever confirmed this theory. No investigation or enforcement action is targeting Coinbase for XRP manipulation.

2. Coinbase’s XRP Holdings and Activity Patterns

Data confirm that Coinbase reduced its XRP stash from 970 million tokens in June to 260–300 million by late August, while associated wallets shrank from 52 to 16. This 70% cut is real, but such reductions are also consistent with routine liquidity management by large exchanges.

3. XRP Price Action and Market Context

XRP’s price action has historically shown volatility tied to institutional flows, regulatory battles, and wider market sentiment. Other exchanges and OTC desks also display similar transfer patterns.

Here’s where attorney Bill Morgan weighed in. He pointed out:

“One heck of a theory about Coinbase being against XRP. We all know Coinbase is no lover of XRP, but the problem with the theory is that XRP price action just seems to be behaving the same way as it has always behaved, including during the long period when Coinbase delisted XRP and could not have used sell-offs to manipulate the price.”

In other words, XRP has often traded in a way that mirrors broader crypto dynamics, regardless of Coinbase’s role.

4. Ripple’s Response to XRP Price Manipulation Allegations

Ripple CTO David Schwartz has dismissed claims of manipulation, insisting that market forces and regulatory uncertainty are the true drivers of XRP’s price moves.

Coinpedia’s Fact Check

Claim	Coinpedia’s Evidence
Coinbase is manipulating XRP’s price.	❌ No regulatory or legal proof; fragmented sales are common in crypto markets.
Sales were timed to suppress XRP around $1.20.	⚠️ Data show correlation, but no proof of intent or coordination.
Coinbase reduced XRP holdings by 69–70%.	✅ Verified via on-chain data; consistent with institutional liquidity management.

Conclusion

Claim	Coinbase is manipulating the price of XRP through coordinated sell-offs and price suppression tactics.
Verdict	❌ False
Fact-Check by Coinpedia	While Coinbase has indeed significantly reduced its XRP holdings in recent months, and patterns of sales and transfers show complex, fragmented behavior during low liquidity periods, there is no direct, verified evidence of deliberate manipulation or illegal price suppression. The claim rests heavily on speculative correlations and assumptions about Coinbase’s motives without concrete proof.