Solana, Avalanche, Chainlink Tumble 8%-12% as Crypto Rally Cools Amid Fake BlackRock XRP Trust Filing

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.

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.