Bill Morgan has clarified, but the controversy remains… "XRP is highly correlated with Bitcoin"

“XRP, following Bitcoin” remarks by Bill Morgan spark controversy

XRP lawyer Bill Morgan has been under ongoing criticism for his previous statement that “XRP follows Bitcoin (BTC) fluctuations.” He clarified that he did not mean the price is “copied,” but rather “correlated.” He stated that XRP’s linkage with Bitcoin remains strong and emphasized that market trends have a greater impact on XRP’s price.

Morgan explained, “The correlation coefficient between Bitcoin’s price and XRP’s price is quite high, but it can change,” and added, “This does not mean that when Bitcoin rises or falls by a certain proportion, XRP will also fluctuate by the same proportion.” Based on data from the past 90 days, the correlation coefficient between XRP and Bitcoin is 0.628. Considering that the closer the value is to 1, the stronger the tendency for both assets to move in the same direction, their association remains significant.

Correlation coefficient 0.628… XRP more volatile during declines

As Morgan explained, XRP and Bitcoin tend to move together, but XRP often exhibits larger fluctuations during downturns. He believes XRP’s volatility is relatively high, leading to deeper and longer-lasting declines, while upward movements require stronger catalysts. In fact, recent data also confirms that when Bitcoin drops 10%, XRP’s average decline is often greater.

Recent market trends are similar. By the end of 2025, when Bitcoin fell from $126k to $80k, XRP dropped from $3.40 to $1.80, with a larger decline. In early 2026, when Bitcoin fell from $80k to $60k, XRP declined from $1.85 to $1.11. This indicates that when overall market risk aversion increases, XRP reacts more sensitively than Bitcoin.

Clarifying the custody dispute… “Bitcoin more important”

Morgan is also skeptical about the claim that “monthly unlocking of XRP custody will put significant pressure on the price.” He pointed out that the basis for this is insufficient and believes that the ultimate key variable is the overall market trend centered around Bitcoin.

Currently, XRP is trading at around $1.37, up 0.27% in the past 24 hours. During the same period, Bitcoin increased by 2%. Given the USD/KRW exchange rate of 1,474.20 KRW, the perceived price of XRP and Bitcoin in Korean won has again entered a sensitive fluctuation zone. In the market, the interpretation that XRP is more influenced by Bitcoin’s directional movement than by its own fundamentals has gained further support.

Article summary by TokenPost.ai

🔎 Market Analysis XRP maintains a high correlation with Bitcoin (0.628), being analyzed as an asset heavily influenced by overall market trends. Especially during downturns, its decline exceeds that of Bitcoin, showing sensitive reaction characteristics.

💡 Strategic Highlights Bitcoin’s directional trend is a core indicator for XRP investment decisions. Risk management during declines is crucial; during upward movements, confirmation of XRP’s unique positive factors is necessary for further gains. Due to high volatility, short-term strategies and phased accumulation are more effective.

📘 Terminology Explanation Correlation coefficient: an indicator of how strongly two assets move in the same direction (closer to 1 means stronger) Volatility: an indicator of the magnitude of price fluctuations Custody: locking a certain amount of tokens and periodically releasing them into the market

💡 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. What does the statement “XRP follows Bitcoin” mean? It does not mean that the price movements of the two assets are exactly the same, but that their price trend directions are highly correlated, with a recent correlation coefficient of 0.628, which is quite high. This implies that when Bitcoin rises, XRP is likely to rise as well, and when Bitcoin falls, XRP is also likely to fall.

Q. Why does XRP decline more during downturns? Due to XRP’s higher volatility compared to Bitcoin, it tends to decline more significantly in weak market conditions. Negative investor sentiment combined with reduced liquidity often amplifies the decline.

Q. Does custody unlocking significantly impact XRP’s price? Some argue it does, but Bill Morgan believes the evidence is insufficient. In reality, the overall market trend centered around Bitcoin is considered a more critical variable influencing XRP’s price.

TP AI Notes This article uses a language model based on TokenPost.ai to summarize the content. The main body may omit details or contain inaccuracies.