A BlackRock filing briefly sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market on the late evening of November 13th.
News of the asset manager’s supposed creation of an XRP (XRP) exchange-traded product led to a sudden 12% surge in XRP’s price. However, the excitement was short-lived, as it became evident that the filing was a fake.
The frenzy unfolded over the course of about an hour when keen-eyed Twitter users stumbled upon a Delaware filing indicating that BlackRock had submitted registration documents for the “iShares XRP Trust.”
This filing was interpreted as a precursor to the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on XRP.
Within just 30 minutes of this news breaking, XRP’s price shot up to $0.73, reflecting a 12% increase in its value.
Unfortunately for XRP enthusiasts, the jubilation was swiftly replaced by disappointment. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, who had reached out to BlackRock for confirmation, revealed that the filing was indeed a forgery.
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It was suspected that an individual had posed as BlackRock managing director Daniel Schwieger to list the XRP trust on the Delaware list of corporations’ website.
Dylan LeClair, an analyst at Bitcoin Magazine, was among the first to report this intriguing development. Balchunas and The Block also shared the listing initially but later removed their posts upon learning of the deception.
BlackRock’s interest in expanding its cryptocurrency offerings had already been signaled when the company filed for a spot Ether ETF on November 9th.
Unlike the XRP incident, there is no doubt about the legitimacy of the Ether ETF filing. Nasdaq officially confirmed its submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission through a 19b-4 submission.
In conclusion, the cryptocurrency market experienced a brief but intense surge in XRP’s price due to a false BlackRock filing indicating the creation of an XRP ETF.
Within an hour, the excitement turned to disappointment as it was revealed to be a fake listing, attributed to an impersonation of a BlackRock executive.
BlackRock’s genuine intentions to expand its cryptocurrency offerings, including a spot Ether ETF, remain unaffected by this incident.
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