A viral rumor circulating on social media platform X has claimed that asset management giant BlackRock is secretly accumulating XRP through its institutional partnership with Coinbase. The speculation intensified following reports that Coinbase's XRP reserves have dropped by approximately 90% over the past six months.
The core of the claim originated from an X user known as "Ledger Man," who suggested the dramatic outflow from Coinbase could indicate BlackRock has purchased between 200 million and 400 million XRP. The connection to BlackRock stems from its August 2022 partnership with Coinbase, which provides the firm's institutional clients access to crypto trading and custody services via Coinbase Prime.
However, a fact-check investigation by Coinpedia finds no verifiable evidence to support these claims. There has been no official statement from BlackRock or its CEO, Larry Fink, confirming any purchase or holding of XRP. The company's partnership with Coinbase is an infrastructure agreement and does not inherently confirm purchases of any specific asset, including XRP.
Furthermore, BlackRock has explicitly stated it has "no plans to launch an XRP ETF at this time," dampening speculation fueled by the success of its spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. While Ripple has partnered with Securitize to enable investors in BlackRock's BUIDL fund to swap shares for RLUSD, and Securitize is integrating with the XRP Ledger, these developments pertain to blockchain infrastructure and do not necessitate BlackRock buying XRP itself.
The verdict is that the claim of BlackRock secretly buying XRP through Coinbase is false. The rumor appears to be speculative, born from the coincidence of Coinbase's XRP outflows and BlackRock's existing crypto custody partnership.
