The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reported a breach of its Twitter/X profile, which was used to disseminate a false message about the approval of a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). Gary Gensler, the SEC Chair, confirmed the incident, stating that the SEC’s Twitter account was compromised and an unauthorized tweet was posted. He clarified that the SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.
The SEC’s original announcement was subsequently removed and replaced with an identical denial, referring to the social media platform as “X” instead of “Twitter”. The fraudulent message, which was posted at approximately 9:30 p.m. UTC on Jan. 9, claimed that the SEC had granted approval for Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on all registered national securities exchanges. The message also stated that the approved Bitcoin ETFs would be subject to ongoing surveillance and compliance measures to ensure continued investor protection. This message was removed within approximately ten minutes.
The incident has drawn criticism from various public figures. Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, suggested that the error could negatively impact crypto prices. Tech specialist and whistleblower Edward Snowden also criticized the SEC, urging Gensler to get his act together. Snowden and others on X highlighted that the SEC had previously touted itself as the best source of information on its own operations.
There is ongoing speculation about whether the SEC had prepared the original message in anticipation of approving a spot Bitcoin ETF in the near future. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas speculated that the message was legitimate but incorrectly scheduled. His colleague James Seyffart supported this speculation, noting the seeming authenticity of the SEC’s original tweet. Balchunas continues to predict that the SEC will grant a spot Bitcoin ETF approval on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The regulator is required to make a decision on Ark Invest’s application at that time.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Cameron Winklevoss, James Seyffart, Eric Balchunas, Gary Gensler, Edward Snowden |
| Companies | Bloomberg, Ark Invest, Gemini, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
