© Reuters
Investing.com– Social media platform Bitcoin spot exchange.
The social media platform said in a post that a preliminary investigation showed the account was compromised by a third party who gained access to a phone number associated with the SEC, and that the account did not have Two-factor authentication enabled at the time of the breach.
The announcement comes just hours after the SEC’s official X account posted a message stating that the regulator had approved the listing of an ETF that directly tracked the spot price of .
The fake message read:
“Today, the SEC approves #Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on all registered national securities exchanges.”
Chairman Gary Gensler reacted almost immediately to the announcement, stating that the official SEC account had been compromised and that the tweet was “unauthorized.”
The message sparked a brief surge in bitcoin prices, given that it came at a time when investors are awaiting an effective ruling from the SEC on whether to list a bitcoin spot ETF.
was trading down 1.8% at $46,109.7 as of 10:51 p.m. ET (0351 GMT), after briefly climbing to nearly $48,000 following the SEC’s false release.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency suffered a sharp collapse in the first week of 2024 amid growing speculation that the SEC was close to approving a spot-traded bitcoin ETF. The regulator is expected to make an announcement this week regarding applications from several fund managers for the ETF.
Applicants such as BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:) and Wisdomtree were seen modifying their ETF applications last week, following guidance from the SEC.
But the financial markets regulator has so far rejected any attempt to list a spot bitcoin ETF, citing a lack of adequate investor protection against price manipulation of the cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency proponents argue that the SEC’s rejections are unfounded and that approval of a spot ETF is likely to attract a lot of institutional capital to the token, given that it allows investors to be exposed to the token without needing to invest directly in cryptocurrencies.
But critics have questioned how much institutional capital will flow into bitcoin after such approval, given that current ETF offerings – which track bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange – have seen the Investor interest has declined over the past two years.
The cryptocurrency sector as a whole is also facing a massive loss of confidence following a series of high-profile frauds and bankruptcies in 2022 and 2023. Trading volumes, particularly for bitcoin, are also well lower than the highs reached during the bullish phase of 2021.