A recent post on social media has stirred up fresh debate in the crypto community, raising the question: Is XRP’s price being suppressed beyond the SEC lawsuit? The post quickly went viral, with some calling it unnecessary fear-mongering and others suggesting it hints at possible market manipulation.
What Was Said?
The post argued that Ripple’s monthly XRP sales, unusual network patterns, and historic price movements — particularly during XRP’s famous 2017 rally — hinted at possible price suppression. It even cited a study that found a negative connection between XRP’s transaction network and its price performance. Naturally, this raised plenty of questions within the crypto community.
Expert Clears The Air
However, attorney and XRP supporter Bill Morgan explained that the post made several exaggerated claims. For starters, he clarified that Ripple doesn’t own 43% of XRP’s supply, as the post suggested. According to CoinMarketCap data, around 58.5% of XRP is in circulation, excluding what Ripple holds in escrow.
Morgan also said that Ripple’s monthly sales from escrow make up just a small fraction of the total market volume and have no impact on price. In fact, evidence presented in the SEC lawsuit revealed that Ripple took measures to support XRP’s price, such as locking up large amounts of tokens in escrow to reduce market pressure.
This post in the thread is over generalised to begin with. Firstly, Ripple does not own 43% of supply. even @CoinMarketCap publishes that the circulating supply (excluding what ripple holes outside escrow) is 58.5%.
Secondly, what Ripple releases from escrow and sells each month… https://t.co/XnTBuHaZJ7
— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) May 5, 2025
He added that the SEC spent over 18 months investigating Ripple before filing the lawsuit, and if any proof of price manipulation existed, it would have been used in court. This, he argued, makes the suppression claims hard to believe.
Further clarifying the situation, Morgan said that XRP’s price has historically followed the crypto market, moving in line with Bitcoin and Ethereum. This trend has remained consistent for the past four years, and little has changed to challenge that pattern.
