The cryptocurrency market experienced a brief however significant surge in XRP prices following false reports of BlackRock’s contribution in a XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). The saga unfolded on X (formerly Twitter) when users stumbled upon a Delaware filing indicating the registration of “iShares XRP Trust,” seemingly indicating BlackRock’s move towards establishing a XRP ETF. The XRP token saw a rapid 12% spike, reaching $0.73 in no less than 30 minutes of the evident announcement.
Fake XRP ETF News Debunked
Notwithstanding, the excitement was short-lived, as Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas swiftly debunked the news, declaring it “false” after reportedly consulting with BlackRock. Balchunas revealed that the filing was a phony, possibly orchestrated by an individual impersonating BlackRock Managing Director Daniel Schweiger.
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
Consequently, XRP investors faced significant losses totaling $7.26 million as a result of the fabricated news. This setback placed XRP as the fourth cryptocurrency in terms of losses, dragging along Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. This is after the price retraced back to $0.66, carrying significant losses to individuals who FOMO’d into the trade due to excitement.
Whale Alert, a platform tracking large transactions in the cryptocurrency space, uncovered an unknown wallet transferring 24 million XRP to Bitstamp, a Luxembourg City-based digital asset exchange. The transferred tokens amounted to $15.61 million at the time of the transaction. Such movements of coins to centralized exchanges (CEX) frequently signal a likely sell-off intention.
This specific wallet has gained consideration previously for reshuffling substantial amounts of XRP. Notably, subsequent to depositing coins to Bitstamp, the price of XRP surged by 15%. This unusual price development was linked to the phony spot XRP ETF backed by BlackRock that momentarily appeared on the Delaware Investment Trusts registration website.
The incident underscores the susceptibility of the cryptocurrency market to misinformation and the swift effect it can have on cryptocurrencies.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any service.
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