Delaware authorities have referred the case involving the false BlackRock Ripple (XRP) exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the State’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
A fraudulent XRP ETF submission, titled “BlackRock iShares XRP Trust,” was filed on Monday under the name of a BlackRock managing director. This fake filing, hosted on the corporation’s website, led to a 12% surge in the XRP token before it was revealed to be fraudulent.
Notably, the fake XRP trust filing closely resembled the legitimate paperwork submitted by BlackRock the previous week for its iShares Ethereum Trust product. The false XRP trust filing used the same address and contact information as BlackRock’s genuine ETF filing.
Following the confusion, a spokesperson from BlackRock confirmed that the fund is indeed bogus, and the company has no intentions of launching such a product. The incident highlights the challenges of misinformation and potential market manipulation in the cryptocurrency space.
According to a report by Bloomberg on Tuesday, the fake BlackRock Ripple (XRP) exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing has prompted an investigation by Delaware’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
Rony Baltazar-Lopez, the director of policy and communications at Delaware’s Department of State, stated, “We have referred this matter to the Department of Justice.”
Following the exposure of the fraudulent filing, the XRP price quickly retreated from $0.71 to $0.65.
It’s worth noting that BlackRock, a major asset management firm, has previously submitted filings for spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The incident underscores the importance of regulatory scrutiny and the potential market impact of misinformation in the cryptocurrency space.
Speculators Don’t Believe it to Be Fake
Despite BlackRock confirming to some publications that the XRP ETF filing was indeed fake, there are reports that it hasn’t been publicly acknowledged as such. Additionally, as of Wednesday, the filing still appears on Delaware’s Department of Corporations website and has not been removed.
An XRP user commented that the authenticity of the situation could be confirmed if authorities don’t identify the culprit behind the filing: “If they don’t find the culprit who created the fake BlackRock XRP ETF news then that means it most likely was real but they pulled back on it.”
It’s worth noting that fake filings have appeared on Delaware’s corporate registration before. In 2021, there were bogus filings suggesting that asset manager Grayscale would launch trust vehicles for two tokens, but the company had no such plans at the time. These incidents highlight the challenges in verifying information in the cryptocurrency space, particularly through regulatory channels.
