First fake regulatory filing sent Blackrock's XRP crypto to the moon

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By Matthew Griffin Connected Society 1st December 2023

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

The first fake regulatory filing for a crypto project shows just how brazen criminals are getting about making money from scams.

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There are many ways that criminals can make a fast buck or two, such as DeepFake crypto scams and pump and dumps, to name but two, but this is the first time that anyone has seen criminals use a fake regulatory filing to, in this case, artificially pump up the value of a cryptocurrency for profit and gain – much to the chagrin of regulators and in this case Blackrock.

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For a brief moment last week XRP holders were in disbelief. And for good reason. The “BlackRock iShares XRP Trust” filing in Delaware that sent the crypto asset flying 12% in just half an hour … was a fake.

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Someone did indeed submit the corporate registration in Delaware but it wasn’t BlackRock, a company spokesperson confirmed.

BlackRock, which did register the name for its iShares Ethereum Trust in Delaware last week, said that the XRP filing was false. The fake XRP trust filing was registered with the same address and contact information as BlackRock’s very real ETH filing.

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When BlackRock confirmed that the iShares Ethereum Trust entity name registration in Delaware was real, Etheruem shot past $2,000 for the first time in a couple months. That’s because such registrations are typically a precursor to an ETF filing, and in this case, things played out exactly as expected, with BlackRock later confirming its intentions for an Ethereum ETF in a Nasdaq filing.

There’s been a ton of anticipation and corresponding price action in connection with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recently, especially those that would be issued by BlackRock if they’re approved – the $9 trillion asset manager is a Wall Street behemoth.

BlackRock made waves in the crypto industry when it submitted a filing for its iShares Bitcoin Trust in June, and each amendment or update has been followed by price rallies.

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Most recently, ETF analysts at Bloomberg noted that there’s a small window during which the Securities and Exchange Commission could approve at least 12 pending Bitcoin ETF applications. That’s because the SEC pushed the deadline on all its Bitcoin ETF filings to Nov. 18 and the period for comments just elapsed. But so far there’s been no word on whether the SEC plans to approve any of them.

Besides the falsified XRP trust name registration there’s been other fake news relating to would be filings emerging while the industry waits on any ETF approval – in October, a false report about the SEC having approved the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF application sent the BTC price up by 10% before it too crashed back down. So does this fake filing signal a new front in the fight against crime? Yes, and now it’s down to the regulators to figure out how to prevent more of them in the future.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.