“The @SECGov X account was compromised, and an unauthorized post was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” the agency said in a Tuesday afteroon post on X.
The SEC’s account on X posted a message earlier Tuesday — featuring a picture of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler — announcing the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding bitcoin.
The incorrect post was online for roughly 30 minutes before it was deleted and replaced with the SEC’s disavowal.
The SEC first responded to the hack through Gensler’s official account on X, which posted a nearly identical statement 15 minutes after the SEC’s apparent approval of bitcoin ETFs.
Both Gensler and the SEC’s official account are verified on X as government figures.
The SEC has been expected to announce the approval of several bitcoin ETFs by Wednesday in compliance with a federal court ruling, including a fund from Greyscale holding roughly $29 billion in bitcoin.
The price of bitcoin briefly surged on the false news, jumping to nearly $48,000, before tumbling lower than its price earlier in the day, to less than $46,000.
The Hill’s Sylvan Lane and Julia Shapero have the story here.
