Delaware authorities have taken action after a false BlackRock Ripple (XRP) exchange-traded fund (ETF) was submitted under the name of a BlackRock managing director. The filing, known as the “BlackRock iShares XRP Trust,” caused a 12% surge in the token’s value before it was revealed to be fake. The fake filing closely resembled legitimate paperwork filed by BlackRock for its iShares Ethereum Trust product.
The fake XRP trust filing and BlackRock’s real ETF filing share the same address and contact information, leading to confusion and chaos. BlackRock’s spokesperson has confirmed that the XRP ETF is indeed bogus and that the company had no intention of launching such a fund. In response to the matter, Delaware’s Department of Justice is looking into the fake filing.
Market Reaction and Speculation
Once the filing was exposed as a hoax, the XRP price quickly dropped from $0.71 to $0.65. It is worth noting that BlackRock has previously filed spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Although a spokesperson for BlackRock confirmed that the XRP ETF filing was fake to a select few publications, there has been no public statement regarding the matter. Interestingly, the fake filing remains on the Delaware Department of Corporations website, raising questions about its removal process.
Speculation arises from users who suggest that if no culprit is found behind the fake BlackRock XRP ETF filing, it could potentially indicate that the filing was originally intended to be real but was later retracted. It is important to mention that this is not the first time a fake filing has appeared on Delaware’s corporate registration. In 2021, Grayscale, an asset manager, faced a similar situation when bogus filings claimed they were launching trust vehicles for two tokens, despite not having any such plans.
