A widely shared claim that investment manager Brookstone Capital Management held a $71 million position in a Volatility Shares XRP ETF has been debunked as a 1,000-fold overstatement, according to an analysis of the firm’s latest SEC filing. The actual reported fair value is $71,059, not $71 million.
The misinterpretation stems from a rule change in 2023 that shifted Form 13F reporting from thousands of dollars to the nearest dollar. Brookstone’s June 30 disclosure listed 12,380 shares of the Volatility Shares XRP ETF (CUSIP 92864M780) with a value of 71,059. Under the pre-2023 convention, that would have meant $71,059,000, but under current SEC rules it is simply $71,059. Dividing the reported value by the share count gives roughly $5.74 per share, while the old unit would imply an impossible $5,740 per share.
The official XRP ETF product, ticker XRPI, is a futures-based fund that does not directly hold XRP tokens. Brookstone’s filing does not indicate any purchase of XRP itself. The firm’s March 31 filing showed 11,144 shares valued at $84,469, indicating an 11.1% increase in shares but a 15.9% drop in fair value quarter-over-quarter. The viral posts, which rounded the stale-unit interpretation to “$71M position,” ignored the 2023 rule update and the prior-quarter disclosure.
The episode highlights the importance of checking the reporting unit, comparing the value to the share count, reviewing prior filings, and understanding the nature of the security before amplifying crypto 13F narratives.
