US SEC’s X account hacked to post about fake nod to Bitcoin ETFs

Washington, Jan 10: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) saw its X account hacked for a brief time, with a post claiming it has approved listings for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

SEC Chair Gary Gensler later clarified in a post on his X account that the agency’s account was “compromised, and an unauthorised tweet was posted”.

The post from the SEC’s hacked account, with an image of Gensler, read: “Today the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities. The approved Bitcoin ETFs will be subject to ongoing surveillance and compliance measures to ensure continued investor protection.”

The price of Bitcoin increased to $48,000 after the fake SEC post but then quickly slid below $46,000.

The SEC said late on Tuesday that the post about Bitcoin exchange-traded funds was incorrect.

“The SEC’s @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorised tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff,” an SEC spokesperson said in a statement.

The hackers who compromised the SEC’s account also started liking posts from crypto-focused accounts that were excited about the SEC’s false approval of Bitcoin ETFs.

Exchange-traded funds are assets that work like mutual funds, with shares of the ETFs trading on exchanges as stocks do.