The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that a post on from the agency’s account on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, announcing that the regulator had approved the trading of exchange-traded funds holding bitcoin was “unauthorized,” and that the agency’s account had been “compromised.”
The initial announcement brought a brief moment of joy to cryptocurrency investors, who had driven up the price of bitcoin in recent months in anticipation of the approval of a bitcoin ETF. The ETF would provide a a way to invest in bitcoin without having to buy the cryptocurrency outright on a crypto exchange such as Binance or Coinbase.
But soon after the initial post on X appeared, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on his personal account that the SEC’s Twitter account was compromised.
“The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” he said.
The price of bitcoin swung from about $46,730 to hear $48,000 after the unauthorized post hit, and then dropped to around $45,200 after the SEC’s denial. It’s was trading close to $45,670 at 5;15 p.m. ET.
It was unclear how the SEC’s social media accounts were compromised. Shortly after Gensler’s statement, it appeared that the SEC had gotten control over its account.
