XRP Pumps and Dumps off the Back of Fake BlackRock ETF XRP Listing

A surge of 12% in XRP followed a misleading BlackRock filing that hinted at the asset manager establishing an XRP exchange-traded product. 

The spike occurred swiftly but was equally short-lived after confirmation that the filing, indicating the creation of the “iShares XRP Trust” and a potential ETF launch, was fraudulent. 

The entire episode transpired over an hour on November 14, with Twitter users noting a Delaware filing. XRP reached $0.73 within 30 minutes of the filing news but promptly reversed its gains after Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, verifying with BlackRock, exposed it as fake.

Balchunas conjectured that an individual might have added the XRP trust to the Delaware list of corporations website by posing as BlackRock managing director Daniel Schwieger.

This is false! Confirmed by BlackRock by me. Some whacko must have added using BlackRock executive name etc. Cmon man. pic.twitter.com/cDpnycYwjQ

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 13, 2023

Bitcoin Magazine analyst Dylan LeClair was among the earliest to report the news. Balchunas and The Block also disseminated information about the listing on X in now-removed posts.

BlackRock expressed its desire to extend its reach beyond Bitcoin, revealing ETF ambitions by filing for a spot Ether ETF on November 9.

In response to the fabricated listing, Seyffart emphasised that the spot Ether ETF is genuine, officially confirmed through a 19b-4 submission by Nasdaq to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Silly season is well underway.