The official X account (formerly Twitter) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was hacked, leading to the posting of false news about the approval of a Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). This caused Bitcoin to spike to a 9-month high of $48,000. The SEC promptly clarified that the Bitcoin spot ETF has not yet been approved and the post was the result of hacking, leading to Bitcoin falling to $44,500.
Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas anticipates that the SEC might announce the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF between 16:00 and 17:00 ET on Wednesday, with the potential for listing on Thursday.
Twitter confirmed that the SEC’s account was compromised due to an unidentified individual gaining control over a phone number through a third party. The account did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time of the hack.
According to Greekslive, the false news of the SEC’s Bitcoin spot ETF approval caused significant volatility in Bitcoin’s price. Most investors interpreted the news as a cue to ‘sell the news,’ reducing leverage and positions in response to the fake approval news.
