Amidst its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has come under scrutiny for its treatment of XRP and its teeming holders, drawing attention to potential inconsistencies in its actions and decisions.
In a recent tweet on Friday, 30th June, Bill Morgan, a prominent Australian-based lawyer took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with Coinbase, highlighting two key issues that have fueled his discontent.
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
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Coinbase’s Mistreatment of XRP Highlighted
Firstly, Morgan pointed out Coinbase’s alleged failure to distribute Songbird (SGB) airdrop tokens to XRP holders. This move has left a sour taste in the mouths of XRP holders who expected to benefit from the airdrop and feel neglected by the exchange.
Secondly, Morgan raised concerns over Coinbase’s decision to delist XRP in the aftermath of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple in 2020. Despite filing an amicus curiae brief in support of Ripple’s fair notice defense, Coinbase has refrained from relisting XRP.
Morgan argued that this discrepancy appeared inconsistent when compared to other crypto assets labeled as securities by the SEC, including Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Filecoin (FIL)), which remained listed on the platform.
Ripple Lawsuit Fallout and Calls for Reconciliation
These grievances have fueled speculation about Coinbase’s handling of XRP and its potential bias against the digital asset and its community.
In response to the SEC’s Wells Notice, Coinbase explained that secondary market transactions of cryptocurrencies on its platform do not meet the criteria outlined in the Howey test, which determines whether an asset is a security. The exchange maintains that it takes a stringent approach to ensure compliance with securities regulations and argues in favor of crypto secondary market trading.
Read Also: SBI CEO States What Impact Victory Against SEC Could Have On XRP Price and Ripple IPO
While some Ripple and XRP enthusiasts have called for unity with Coinbase in its legal battle against the SEC, Morgan, however, remains steadfast in his criticism refusing to embrace the idea of reconciliation until Coinbase addresses its actions toward XRP holders and reinstates the coin on its platform.
In his words, he is not in the “we are all friends now” club and is not in a hurry to forget Coinbase’s actions against XRP until the exchange relists XRP.
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
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