XRP Price Collapses 12% as BlackRock Debunks ETF Hoax

The XRP price recently peaked at an impressive $0.75 but has since plummeted to $0.61, marking a significant 12% drop. 

This downturn was triggered by the debunking of a hoax regarding an alleged iShares XRP Trust filing by BlackRock. 

The false information, which was initially taken at face value by many members of the XRP community, was later refuted by a BlackRock spokesperson and confirmed to be a fabrication.

The mechanism behind the hoax

The hoax involved the creation of a fictitious "XRP ETF" Trust. Jeremy Hogan, a well-known attorney in the crypto space, explained the simplicity and low cost of perpetrating such a fraud in a recent thread on X. 

By filing just two documents and paying a nominal fee of $500, a fraudulent "placeholder" can be created on a state website. 

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Hogan speculated that the criminal behind this hoax could have manipulated the market by buying XRP at a low price, selling it at the peak during the hoax-fueled surge, and potentially earning millions in the process. 

Alternatively, he suggested that BlackRock might actually be exploring avenues for its clients to gain exposure to XRP, though this remains unconfirmed.

Another BlackRock-related hoax

A similar incident occurred recently with Bitcoin (BTC), which saw an 8% decline following a false report about the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving a BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF. 

The misinformation falsely claimed SEC's green light for BlackRock's application. This led to a brief surge in Bitcoin's price above $30,000, but the gains were quickly lost once BlackRock denied the approval rumors.

The erroneous reporting from various media outlets, including CoinTelegraph, was met with criticism and humor within the cryptocurrency community.