Coinbase's XRP balance surged 4,870.7 percent by rich list metrics, but it has been confirmed that 5.5 billion tokens did not newly come in.

Blockchain media outlet U.Today reported on Sept. 8, local time, that the change was not a large-scale purchase or deposit. It was a reclassification driven by an update to the wallet identification system of XRP ledger explorer XRPScan.

The controversy grew after an XRP rich list bot said in an hourly update that Coinbase's XRP balance had swelled to 5,569,165,957 XRP. With no separate announcement of purchases or signs of large fund inflows, market participants watched for an explanation.

XRPScan drew a line, saying Coinbase did not newly secure 5.5 billion XRP. XRPScan said, "This change does not mean Coinbase gained 5.5 billion XRP," adding it had completed identification and labeling of 146 previously unidentified Coinbase wallets. Holdings that had been scattered were grouped under balances in Coinbase's name, pushing up the rich list figure at once.

After the adjustment, Coinbase rose to third place on the XRP rich list. The amount currently counted as held by Coinbase is 5,683,635,165 XRP across 152 accounts. That corresponds to 5.684 percent of total XRP supply. Upbit held on to second place with 6,416,060,312 XRP across 12 accounts, while Binance ranked fourth with 2,608,237,482 XRP across 18 accounts.

Ripple holds the top spot. Ripple has 3,781,131,458 XRP across 26 accounts and separately holds 35.7 billion XRP in escrow. Coinbase's rise, as a result of improved identification accuracy rather than actual fund movements, shows that wallet labeling changes should also be considered when interpreting rich list figures.

The adjustment is an extension of a platform overhaul XRPScan carried out in August 2026. XRPScan recently said consolidation of Coinbase wallets was part of work to deliver simpler and more accurate data reporting. As automated tracking accounts reflect large-wallet changes on an hourly basis, shifts in wallet owner identification can create the illusion of a sharp balance increase.

Technical updates on the XRP ledger are also continuing. Permission Delegation passed an independent security review by Cantina Security and XRPL quality assurance testing. Also, based on XRPScan data, fixCleanup3_3_0, a bundle of major amendments, is expected to be activated on the XRP ledger mainnet within the next 2 days if validator support remains above the threshold.

Along with this, the "Batch" amendment is nearing a majority. The current consensus rate stands at 71.43 percent, close to the 80 percent support line. As the Coinbase balance surge controversy has been settled as a simple accounting change, market attention appears to be shifting to follow-on network updates on the XRP ledger and the integrity of major wallet data.