Coinbase Slips From Top 10 XRP Exchanges Amid Price Manipulation Claims

Coinbase has dropped out of the top ten global exchanges holding XRP reserves. This comes amid allegations of potential market manipulation from the exchange. The drop in its holdings comes at a time when global demand for the token is surging.

Coinbase Falls Behind in XRP Holdings

Data reveals that Coinbase has dropped out of the top ten exchanges by XRP reserves. Upbit, Binance, and Uphold currently top the leaderboard, with billions of tokens in custody. In contrast, Coinbase’s holdings now sit at just 132.4 million. This is below Kraken in the tenth spot, which retains over 185 million.

The fall from the top tier is striking when compared to Coinbase’s position in early July. The exchange held more than 780 million tokens across more than 60 wallets. By September, that number had dwindled to just 10 wallets holding balances above zero. At current rates, each wallet carries roughly 16.5 million tokens.

However, another outflow of 16.53 million tokens has been recorded from Coinbase. The transfer originated from one of the 10 cold wallets. It was systematically broken down into multiple smaller transactions before being distributed to newly created external wallets.

Analysts point to falling demand for the token on Coinbase’s perpetual markets as a key factor. Since the CME introduced XRP futures, institutional liquidity has shifted away from Coinbase. This has left the exchange trailing behind global leaders like Binance, Bitget, and Bybit, which each report more than $1 billion in daily trades.

XRP Price Manipulation on Exchanges Claims Continues

The steep decline in reserves has led to speculation that Coinbase may have reduced its exposure when the token hit its ATH of $3.66. It also suggests they have redistributed the liquidity into self-custodial holdings for larger institutions. 

Some observers also argue that the shrinking reserves show Coinbase’s difficulty competing against rival platforms innovating around the token. This is in reference to Gemini’s XRP credit card offering cashback rewards. Gemini recently overtook Coinbase in the App Store due to the launch.

Crypto expert Stern Drew has claimed that Coinbase and Binance could be involved in a “supply chain attack” on the open-source wallet ecosystem, pushing users toward centralized platforms. According to his analysis, such events discourage self-custody and steer liquidity back to regulated exchanges.

As CoinGape previously reported, an analyst claimed that Binance is selling XRP to prevent it from increasing in value. There is no solid proof of this, but these accusations help explain why the token struggles to rise in price even with its growing demand and fundamentals.

The loss of Coinbase from the altcoin’s top ten exchanges shows the momentum gap between U.S. trading platforms and their Asian counterparts.