The X-account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was hacked, leading to a false announcement about the approval of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) that caused significant fluctuations in the cryptocurrency’s value. The SEC is currently investigating the fraudulent post on its X-account, which was previously known as Twitter.
On Tuesday, an unidentified party briefly gained access to the SEC’s X-account and posted a fake news stating that Bitcoin ETFs had been approved. However, this was not the case. The SEC’s X-account was compromised by an unknown party shortly after 4 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), or 10 p.m. Central European Time. The unauthorized access was subsequently terminated.
X confirmed the hack late on Tuesday, stating that the SEC’s account had been compromised due to an “unidentified person” gaining control over a phone number associated with the agency’s account through a third party.
The unauthorized post claimed that the SEC had granted approval for Bitcoin ETFs on all registered national securities exchanges. The SEC is expected to make a decision on a joint application from Ark Investments and 21Shares on Wednesday.
By 4:11 p.m. ET, the post had received at least 1 million views. Less than 20 minutes later, it was no longer visible and appeared to have been deleted.
The price of Bitcoin surged to around $48,000 following the fake post, before falling to below $45,000 minutes later. The anticipated positive decision had already driven the price of Bitcoin up in recent months. Since mid-October, it had gained as much as 76 percent at times.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | None |
| Companies | Ark Investments, Secutities and Exchange Commission, 21Shares, Reuters |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
