Rumors circulated on social media on Monday that BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, had filed an application to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) backed by the XRP token. These speculations led to a 7% rise in the price of XRP before reality took over.
The hype of the false BlackRock ETF rumor on XRP
The rumor began circulating on Monday when a Twitter user claimed that BlackRock had filed a prospectus for an XRP ETF called “Ishares XRP Trust” with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This news caused the price of XRP to rise by 7% in a few hours, reaching $0.55 before falling to $0.51 once the information was denied.
However, several industry experts quickly debunked this rumor. Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst at Bloomberg, noted on Twitter that BlackRock had confirmed that it had not filed for an XRP ETF. This would be identity theft aimed at manipulating the market.
Despite the denial, the price of XRP remained up for a few hours before falling as confirmation of the false rumor spread. This episode shows how sensitive the crypto market remains to unfounded rumors.
BlackRock confirms its interest in crypto ETFs
Although BlackRock has not filed for an XRP ETF, the asset manager has repeatedly confirmed its growing interest in crypto-backed ETFs.
Indeed, BlackRock has already submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF called “Ishares Bitcoin Trust”. Last week, the company also filed for an Ether ETF under the name “Ishares Ethereum Trust.”
If approved, these products would represent a major milestone for the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. So far, the SEC has only validated ETFs backed by futures contracts, but none on Bitcoin or spot Ether.
The regulator is currently reportedly examining between 8 and 10 spot Bitcoin ETF projects. Some even anticipate a bulk approval of several of these funds in the near future. But for XRP, we will obviously have to wait before seeing BlackRock commit to it.
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