Top Lawyer Says He Dislikes Coinbase for Hurting XRP Holders

Attorney Morgan said he does not like Coinbase as he cannot forget what the exchange did to XRP holders.  

In a tweet yesterday, Australian-based lawyer Bill Morgan said he dislikes exchange Coinbase for what it did to XRP holders. 

Attorney Morgan noted that while he entirely supports Coinbase’s lawsuit against the SEC, he cannot forget what the exchange did to XRP holders. 

I do support @coinbase in its litigation with the SEC. I just don’t like them or forget what they did. I’m not in the ‘we are all friends now’ club

— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) June 30, 2023

Morgan Lists Coinbase’s Crimes 

According to Morgan, Coinbase dumped “a pile of p**” on XRP holders by not distributing its Songbird (SGB) airdrop to users. 

Another reason attorney Morgan dislikes Coinbase is that the exchange decided to delist XRP and not relist the coin. Per attorney Morgan, the decision is inconsistent with other crypto assets the SEC labeled securities that are still listed on Coinbase. Furthermore, the decision is also inconsistent with the exchange’s legal document about secondary market trading.  

8. Dumped 💩 on XRP holders by not distributing their SGB airdropped tokens,
9. Won’t resume trading of XRP on its exchange which is inconsistent with other tokens the SEC calls securities & inconsistent with statements in its own legal documents about secondary market trading

— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) June 30, 2023

Recall that Coinbase delisted XRP a few weeks after the SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the cryptocurrency is a security. Notably, Coinbase has continued to ignore calls to relist XRP even though it filed an amicus curiae brief supporting Ripple’s fair notice defense. 

Two years later, the SEC sued Coinbase for operating an unregistered securities exchange. The SEC labeled some crypto assets listed on Coinbase as securities, including Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Filecoin (FIL). 

However, Coinbase did not delist these coins just like it did XRP a few years ago. Instead, the San Francisco-based exchange put up a defense in support of crypto secondary market trading. 

In response to SEC’s Wells Notice, Coinbase claimed that secondary market transactions of cryptos on Coinbase fail all four prongs of the Howey test. The exchange claims it follows an efficient approach to ensure it does not list tokens that constitute securities. 

Morgan Continues to Call Out Coinbase 

Interestingly, attorney Morgan has continued to call out Coinbase for treating XRP differently from other tokens the SEC labels securities. In May, Morgan called out Coinbase for failing to apologize to XRP holders after delisting and not relisting XRP. 

Last month, he also criticized the leading exchange for halting XRP secondary market sales. 

Meanwhile, some Ripple and XRP enthusiasts have urged XRP holders to end the crypto tribalism by supporting Coinbase in the wake of its legal battle against the SEC. These enthusiasts supported Coinbase by tweeting the ancient proverb, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

However, the outspoken lawyer said he is not in the “We are all friends now” club. Notably, attorney Morgan is not in a hurry to forget Coinbase’s stringent actions against XRP until the exchange relists the coin again.