Emily Walker
Recent speculation has emerged regarding the US Treasury’s supposed involvement with the XRP Ledger (XRPL), igniting conversations within the digital asset realm. On January 21, various accounts on X reported that an address associated with “home.treasury.gov” emerged on the ledger, establishing connections with prominent institutions like Bank of America, BlackRock, and JPMorgan.
Warning About Potential XRP Scam
However, investigations into this claim have unveiled numerous warning signs, suggesting the wallet is fake and not connected to the US Treasury. An insightful community member, Echo X (@echodatruth), shared a thorough video analysis on X to clarify the situation and dispel the rumors.
In his video, Echo X pointed out several concerning aspects regarding the wallet. “If you search the wallet address on XRP Scan, you’ll see it holds various tokens from Bank of America, BlackRock, and JPMorgan, which already raises red flags. You’ll also notice that 16,000 XRP has been mistakenly sent to this wallet by users who think it belongs to the Treasury,” he stated.
Echo X encouraged users to verify these anomalies through XRPL scanners like XRPScan or Bithomp. He, along with other developers from BuildX and the ERS team, discovered a peculiar trend of tokens labeled “Bank of America,” “BlackRock,” and “JPMorgan,” all created by the same address—a strong sign that these tokens are counterfeit.
According to public records from Bithomp, the suspicious wallet was activated on January 21 at 3:17 UTC and quickly claimed the domain associated with the US Treasury, home.treasury.gov, likely to enhance its credibility.
Additionally, the wallet was reported to have received 1 trillion units of each suspect token, made extensive sell orders for millions in exchange for XRP, and referenced dubious domain names, such as a questionable “BRICS domain.”
Echo X noted that anyone investigating the origins of these tokens would find their backgrounds suspicious. He emphasized, “When you delve into it, the Genesis wallets point to a BRICS domain wallet… that domain isn’t even valid. It’s odd that BRICS would create such a wallet.”
Furthermore, the integrity of the wallet is further questioned based on trustlines established for tokens that lack official support. In one significant transaction, the wallet aimed to swap 299 million JPMorgan tokens for 33.23 million XRP at a strange rate of 0.11 XRP per token, eliciting skepticism about its legitimacy.
The rumor intensified when XRPScan indicated that the relevant addresses bore a sort of verification tag, which typically suggests completion of a Know Your Customer (KYC) process. However, Wietse Wind, the founder of Xaman (formerly Xumm), clarified that such verification on XRPScan merely confirms whether users submitted personal information, not their affiliation with reputed institutions. Wind commented on X:
“The domain field is public on blockchain accounts; anyone can input anything. Tokens can be issued by anyone. KYC can be performed by anyone. … XRPScan reflects data from the ledger, which is accessible to everyone. […] All these accounts have undergone KYC, but by different individuals in the Philippines. KYC helps, yet it offers no assurances.”
Wind’s insights highlight that KYC serves to authenticate a person’s identity but does not confirm their alignment with organizations like the US Treasury or major banks. Thus, individuals can easily label wallets as “Treasury,” create tokens named for big banks, and set domains linking to high-profile sites without any actual representation.
In his analysis, Echo X urged members of the community to stay alert and refrain from sending XRP to suspicious addresses based solely on domain names or rumors: “Big thanks to the BuildX and ERS community and developers for their efforts to protect you… Always conduct your own research and understand what you own.”
As of now, XRP is valued at $3.17.