Has Ripple Really Hired Hollywood Star Sydney Sweeney for an XRP Marketing Campaign?

Rumors of a celebrity partnering with a crypto project can be explosive because of the speculative nature of the cryptocurrency market. A post on social media that has gone viral suggests that actress Sydney Sweeney has been signed by Ripple, the firm behind the XRP cryptocurrency, to spearhead its next marketing campaign. Let's fact-check this claim and confirm its validity.

The Origin of This Claim

On July 25, news broke on social media that Ripple had hired actress Sydney Sweeney for its next major marketing campaign. The news, which created an instant frenzy, even went ahead to forecast a monumental price increase of XRP to an unbelievable price of $568.

The origin of this rumor can be traced to Shibo, an X account, claiming to be a "Community Growth Specialist." The news quickly garnered traction because of Shibo's verified badge on X and huge followership. Soon after, other accounts retweeted and posted the news. So, is there any truth behind this post?

What We Found So Far

When it comes to finding the truth, we have to go through all the verifiable sources. Sydney Sweeney collaborating with Ripple for a marketing campaign would be one of the biggest events in the celebrity space. 

An event of this magnitude often comes with an official press release, official announcements on social media accounts, and extensive coverage of the news by credible media outlets. We shall find, however, a very decided want of such evidence:

• No press Release, Blog Post, or Official Statement by Ripple Labs: Ripple Labs has not published a press release, blog post, or any other official statement confirming any partnership between them and Sydney Sweeney. As of today, July 27, there is no official statement from the company on the matter.
• No Statement by Sydney Sweeney: The actress with a keen sense of brand partnerships has not issued any statement or a post on social media that would mention a partnership with Ripple or promote XRP. 
• No Credible News Coverage: None of the reliable financial and cryptocurrency news sources (which would be quick to report a story of such scale) have written about such a partnership. The rumor has only been covered with fact-checking and crypto news blogs.

Several fact-checking websites and crypto media have already disproved this allegation, proving that there is no reliable data on which to base it. The rumor is nothing but that: a rumor.

In Summary

This isn't the first time Sydney Sweeney or other celebrities have been at the center of a crypto-related controversy. There have also been rumors of Sweeney preparing to partner with Hyperliquid. Also, the social media accounts of celebrities have been hacked to promote fraudulent "pump and dump" schemes in the past.

These events confirm a sad truth that in the crypto community, celebrity endorsements, both genuine and fake, are an effective ploy of scammers and speculators. These rumors are a valuable lesson to investors on why due diligence is essential.