Sharp declines in altcoins led cryptocurrency markets lower on Monday, with the downturn picking up speed late in the afternoon following what turned out to be a fake corporate registration for the iShares XRP Trust.
XRP briefly spiked as much as 10% as an apparent Delaware corporation registry document for the iShares XRP Trust became public. The document was similar to those BlackRock had legitimately filed prior to its formal applications for spot bitcoin [BTC] and ether [ETH] exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
XRP gave back the entirety of those gains after a BlackRock spokesperson denied any affiliation to the filing and currently is trading down 1.8% over the past 24 hours.
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
An already lower crypto market was shaken up further by the fake news. SOL, which was a leader of the altcoin rally by more than doubling in price in a month, tumbled to an 8% loss over the past 24 hours. LINK and AVAX plunged more than 10% and 13%, respectively. Cardano's [ADA], Polkadot's [DOT] and dogecoin [DOGE] were each lower by 5%-7%.
BTC also slumped to a session low, now off roughly 2% over the course of the day to around $36,500. ETH gave up earlier gains, now flat over the past 24 hours and holding above the key $2,000 level.
The CoinDesk Market Index [CMI], a basket of almost 200 crypto assets, was down more than 2%.
JPMorgan analysts last week warned in a report that the crypto rally – largely fueled by excitement about spot BTC ETF – seems "overdone" as investors were getting overly optimistic about the prospects of new capital entering the digital asset space.
IntoTheBlock head of research Lucas Outumuro said in a Friday report that the market showed signs of overheating in the near-term but strong on-chain activity suggested that the crypto winter is over.
