US Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account ‘compromised’, falsely approves Bitcoin funds

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission caused the price of Bitcoin to spike to almost US$48,000 ($76,927) then fall by 5 per cent within an hour on Wednesday morning, after a post from its
official X account falsely approved Bitcoin exchange traded funds.

The market regulator that aimed to protect US investors from market manipulation and other fraudulent activity posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying it granted approval for Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) to list on securities exchanges.

The SEC is currently deciding whether or not to approve Bitcoin fund filings from a handful of investment firms, including Blackrock.

The market expected a ruling this week.

The initial false post included a graphic and quote from chairman Gary Gensler stating: “Today’s approval enhances market transparency and provides investors with efficient access to digital asset investments within a regulated framework.”

Minutes later Gensler posted to his official personal X account announcing the approval tweet was false.

“The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized [sic] tweet was posted,” his tweet read.

“The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.”

The original post on the SEC account was later deleted.

The spot price of Bitcoin hit US$47,900 ($76,786) according to Google Finance on the false approval announcement, before falling as low as US$45,419 ($72,809).

It since recovered to almost US$46,000 ($73,740).

Investors questioned on X the SEC’s ability to keep investors safe if it could not protect its own social media account, with some wondering if Gensler’s account was also compromised or the initial tweet perhaps accidentally posted by staff one day early.

The SEC did not provide any immediate detail on the incident.

It did not publish an ETF approval decision on its public website.

Madison Reidy is the host of the NZ Herald’s investment show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment, and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.