A new rumor facilitated on X (formerly Twitter) suggests that ripple is in collaboration with investment firm BlackRock due to their supposed work on a tokenized global financial system anchored on the XRP Ledger.
Speculators of the theory even go to the lengths of saying that the XRP lawsuit was a part of the plan to integrate Ripple into the financial world. Even with all the various claims made by these enthusiasts, legal experts, including ex-SEC officials, have boldly shot down the claims as absurd.
Predictive components of the theory associate Ripple’s XRP Ledger with BlackRock’s Aladdin system to claim that they are part of a grander scheme based on financial tokenization. This also includes the on-chain digital identity systems, tokenized treasuries, and cross-chain networks.
To aid the claims, BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink, is in favor of the claim that tokenization is the future of finance. Speculation further increased with Ripple’s partnership with Ondo Finance to issue backed tokens of US treasuries onto the XRPL, with the funding being from BlackRock’s USD Treasury fund.
Supporters of the theory, such as X user Stellar Rippler, note that overlapping synergies and similar development timelines between the two firms indicate a possible collaboration.
They highlight Ripple’s adoption of decentralized identity systems and tokenized assets, which are strategic corners of BlackRock’s empire, as signs of common goals between Ripple and BlackRock.
Moreover, the narrative is deepened by XRPL’s support for decentralized identity credentials and the tokenization of various assets, including real estate, carbon credits, and CBDCs.
The connections between Ondo co-founder Nathan Allman and former BlackRock and Goldman Sachs employees, including ex-SEC chair Gary Gensler, further stoke these rumors. These connections have led some to speculate about a bespoke scheme involving Ripple, BlackRock, and government regulators.
Theories such as that have been countered by the former SEC lawyer Marc Fagel and others. Fagel, for example, argued on X that the XRP lawsuit was not Gary Gensler’s doing. It was filed by Jay Clayton during the Trump presidency.
“Ripple was sued under Trump/Clayton, long before Gensler was appointed to the SEC,” he claimed on X, refuting the theory that a regulatory capture of some sort was orchestrated to strategically benefit both Ripple and BlackRock.
The theory points out, for instance, BlackRock’s investment in \$XDNA ETF which overlaps with a decentralized identity project, DNA Protocol, that was launched on the XRPL.
Though this resemblance has sparked some intrigue over whether BlackRock has XRPL-based solutions in mind, there is no evidence that ties the two in any official capacity.
To sum up, the Ripple-BlackRock theory, while interesting, remains unsupported due to the gravitational overlaps and coincidental timing on which it is built. Legal scholars and former policymakers, however, point out there is no solid evidence to back these claims.
Theories like this one, which remain unsupported in a legal sense, may continue to arise as Ripple approaches a rumored settlement for its dispute with the SEC, but in the view of legal and regulatory experts, they are baseless.
