Crypto lawyer Bill Morgan found himself in a strange spot this weekend. Just a day after he’d been talking about rumors that Coinbase might be manipulating XRP’s price, he was suddenly being called something he’s not: a “Coinbase lawyer.”
It’s one of those things that probably started as an honest mistake. But in the hyper-sensitive world of crypto Twitter, mix-ups like that don’t slide. Morgan wasn’t having it.
Mistaken Identity Sparks Strong Reaction
On Sunday, Morgan responded pretty fiercely to a post that had misidentified him. He pushed back hard against the “Coinbase lawyer” label. It wasn’t just a casual error to him—he saw it as a real insult, something that couldn’t just be ignored.
Which, you know, makes sense. Lawyers tend to be particular about who they’re associated with. Especially when it comes to big exchanges.
The Backdrop: XRP Price Manipulation Rumors
All this happened while another conversation was already buzzing. People in the crypto community have been speculating that Coinbase might be deliberately pushing down the price of XRP.
The theory gained some traction after reports showed that Coinbase had significantly reduced its XRP holdings. We’re talking a drop of about 69%, from around 780 million XRP down to just 199 million. That’s a huge shift.
Naturally, some folks saw that and assumed it was a coordinated sell-off. The idea was that the exchange was trying to drive the price down on purpose.
Morgan’s Take on the “Manipulation” Claims
But Bill Morgan had already stepped in to dispute that narrative. A day before the identity mix-up, he’d been addressing those exact rumors.
He argued that XRP’s price was just following its usual pattern. He pointed out that the token had seen similar movements in the past, even when Coinbase wasn’t doing anything notable—like when they just delisted it without any big sells.
He didn’t deny that Coinbase hasn’t been the most welcoming platform for XRP. That’s pretty well-known. But he firmly stated that the reduction in holdings alone isn’t solid proof of manipulation. It’s a fair point, I think. Correlation isn’t always causation.
And perhaps because he was offering that defense, someone somewhere got the wrong idea. They slapped the “Coinbase lawyer” tag on him, and things got messy.
Setting the Record Straight
Morgan has made it clear—he’s not representing Coinbase. He’s his own person, an independent lawyer with his own views. Being mislabeled wasn’t just a minor annoyance; he treated it as something that could undermine his credibility.
So he corrected it. Quickly and firmly. He told the community to get it right next time. In a space where trust is fragile, maybe that kind of clarity matters more than we realize.
