SEC account hack leads to Bitcoin spike

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked, leading to the posting of an unauthorized tweet about bitcoin ETFs. The tweet, which falsely claimed that the SEC had approved spot bitcoin ETFs, was deleted after about 30 minutes. The SEC confirmed that its account had been compromised and that the unauthorized tweet was not made by the SEC or its staff. Following the fake post, Bitcoin’s price briefly spiked near $48,000 but has since fallen near $45,700. SEC Chair Gary Gensler later tweeted that the SEC had not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.

The @SECGov X account was compromised, and an unauthorized post was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) January 9, 2024