For several hours, the iShares XRP Trust appeared on the ICIS Delaware website suggesting that BlackRock had filed to list an XRP ETF, which was confirmed to be fake.
Amid the ongoing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, the crypto community has questioned why the Ripple Labs-backed XRP has not been included and it has legal clarity. On Monday, reports circulated on the X platform that BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) had filed to list an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). Notably, BlackRock’s iShares XRP Trust appeared on the ICIS Delaware website, which was highlighted to be fake and market manipulative. Moreover, the XRP price rallied 15 percent and briefly reached 76 cents before retracing to the former levels after it was confirmed to be fake news. According to our latest market data, XRP price traded around 66 cents on Tuesday during the early Asian market.
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
According to Jeremy Hogan, a crypto-friendly legal expert with Hogan & Hogan, it is possible that a criminal filed two documents needed to list an XRP ETF and paid the fee of $500. Arguably, Hogan suggested that the criminal proceeded to place a bet on the XRP leverage and quickly sold at 74 cents to make a higher profit. Moreover, Bitcoin and Ether ETF application news have impacted the underlying value with higher volatility.
Are the BlackRock-related Rumors Signaling an Imminent XRP ETF in the United States?
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been pushing for XRP to be regulated under securities law before the Ripple-backed instrument grows enormously amid the ongoing crypto mainstream adoption. However, the July summary judgment on the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit concluded that XRP exchange sales do not constitute investment contracts, thus resulting in more crypto firms relisting the instrument for trading.
The XRP trading volume and liquidity have since significantly improved as more investors doubled down on the instrument. As of this reporting, XRP had an average trading volume of about $3.1 billion, up approximately 230 percent in the past 24 hours following the ETF fake news. Notably, about $6.9 million in XRP was liquidated in the past 24 hours, according to market data from Coinglass.
Meanwhile, Yassin Mobarak, the founder of Dizer Capital, highlighted that it is peculiar that there is no XRP ETF application despite the notable legal clarity in the United States. The desire for crypto ETFs has been emanating from institutional investors’ demand to diversify their portfolios in digital assets to hedge against high fiat inflation.
Many applications for BTC spot ETF and now there’s a new ETH spot ETF application.
I find it peculiar that there’s no spot ETF application for the only crypto with actual legal clarity. That crypto is $XRP. https://t.co/QeZDP3jl7J
— Yassin Mobarak 🪝 (@Dizer_YM) November 11, 2023
Nonetheless, the XRP market will not be free until the ongoing SEC vs Ripple case is concluded, which is expected in early 2025, depending on the trial outcome in the first quarter of 2024.
