KEY POINTS
- The false XRP ETF filing propelled the crypto asset to see a 15% gain Monday
- The bogus paperwork appeared on the official website of Delaware’s Department of Corporations
- Bitcoin was trading in the red zone at $36,122.90 as of 9:42 a.m. ET Wednesday
The Delaware Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the false filing of a BlackRock XRP Trust fund that surged the price of Ripple’s native cryptocurrency by as much as 15% late Monday.
The crypto market was surprised earlier this week when a regulatory filing surfaced online showing that BlackRock, the New York-based mega investment firm, was pursuing an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The filing, submitted to Delaware’s Division of Corporations, closely resembled BlackRock’s spot Ethereum and spot Bitcoin ETF applications, and was filed under the name and address of one of the investment firm’s managing directors, which convinced several investors it was legitimate.
Unfortunately, the asset management giant denied having any connection with the filing, which meant the one circulating online was fraudulent.
BlackRock’s confirmation that the paperwork was bogus was also later echoed by Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart.
“It’s FAKE people. $XRP is already trading right where it was before it ran up 15%,” Seyffart said in a post, before adding another one that read, “That was a quick round trip. Whoever did this better have covered their tracks because the feds will be looking into them I suspect… lol.”
Following the bogus paperwork, the Delaware Department of State referred the matter to the Delaware Department of Justice as confirmed by Rony Baltazar-Lopen, the director of policy and communications at Delaware’s Office of the Secretary of State.
The appearance of the bogus paperwork on the Delaware’s Department of Corporations’ official website came at the heels of the Ethereum trust application of the New York-based asset management giant, as seen in a Nasdaq filing last week, which pushed the value of Ether to reach new heights.
BlackRock’s submission of spot Bitcoin ETF and spot Ether ETF applications have impacted the crypto market in a major way, particularly the prices of BTC and ETH.
While the applications are still pending approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, BlackRock’s interest in the cryptocurrency industry is a positive gesture that many hoped would pave the way for the major flow of investment in the crypto market.
Bitcoin, the world’s first-ever crypto asset, was trading in the red zone at $36,122.90 as of 9:42 a.m. ET Wednesday with a 24-hour trading volume up by 24.57% at $24.54 billion.
BTC’s price action represented a 1.22% dip over the past 24 hours and a 2.0% gain over the last seven days.
Data from CoinMarketCap revealed that Bitcoin’s total circulating supply stands at 19.54 billion BTC with its value still falling by 1.24% at a $706.15 billion market cap.
