Blackrock
(BLK)
is
not
attempting
to
launch
an
XRP
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF),
the
asset
manager
said
Monday.
A
regulatory
filing
suggesting
the
company
had
taken
a
first
step
toward
doing
so
is
fake,
a
spokesperson
said
shortly
after
the
news
began
circulating
on
social
media.
XRP’s
price
jumped
more
than
10%
at
one
point
but
had
already
begun
sinking
back
to
its
pre-news
intraday
price
of
around
65
cents.
Blackrock
has
previously
filed
with
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
to
launch
spot
bitcoin
and
ether
ETFs.
Prior
to
those
SEC
filings,
were
filings
for
a
Delaware
entity,
which
acts
as
the
corporate
vehicle
for
the
product.
Paperwork
submitted
Monday
mimicked
those
forms
but
was
not
in
fact
filed
by
the
asset
management
giant.
This
is
not
the
first
time
Delaware’s
corporate
registration
process
has
been
abused,
seemingly
in
an
attempt
to
pump
crypto
prices.
A
pair
of
filings
in
2021
suggested
Grayscale,
an
asset
manager,
would
launch
trust
vehicles
for
two
tokens
that
Grayscale
did
not
have
plans
for.
Grayscale
is
a
subsidiary
of
CoinDesk
parent
company
Digital
Currency
Group.
Speculators
took
hold
on
Monday
afternoon
as
ETF
watchers,
including
Bloomberg’s
Eric
Balchunas,
amplified
the
phony
filing,
presenting
it
as
true.
Media
corporations
including
Bankless
and
The
Block
also
recirculated
the
news,
fueling
buy
pressure
on
XRP.
But
other
informed
observers
expressed
a
high
degree
of
doubt
that
Blackrock
–
hardly
regarded
as
a
risk-taker
in
crypto
–
would
even
think
about
creating
an
ETF
product
for
XRP,
which
is
the
subject
of
active
litigation
with
the
SEC.
XRP
also
doesn’t
have
a
massive
regulated
futures
market
in
the
U.S.,
unlike
bitcoin
and
ether.