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Investing.com– Social media platform .
The social media platform said in a post that a preliminary investigation showed that the account was compromised because a third party gained access to a phone number associated with the SEC, and that the account did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time of the rape. .
The announcement comes just hours after the SEC’s official X account posted that the regulator had approved the listing of an ETF that directly tracks the spot price of bitcoin.
The fake post said:
“Today, the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs to list on all registered national stock exchanges.”
Chairman Gary Gensler responded almost immediately to the announcement, stating that the SEC’s official account was compromised and that the tweet was unauthorized.
The release caused a brief spike in bitcoin prices, as it came at a time when investors are awaiting an actual decision from the SEC on the listing of a spot bitcoin ETF.
fell 1.8% to $46,109.7 at 10:51 p.m. ET (03:51 GMT), after briefly rising to nearly $48,000 following the SEC’s bogus release.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency saw a sharp drop in the first week of 2024, amid growing speculation that the SEC was close to approving a spot-traded bitcoin ETF. The regulator is expected to make an announcement this week on several fund managers’ applications for the ETF.
Challengers like BlackRock Inc (NYSE 🙂 and Wisdomtree were seen altering their ETF applications last week, following instructions from the SEC.
But the securities regulator has so far rejected any attempt to list a spot bitcoin ETF, citing a lack of adequate protection for investors against price manipulation of the cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency advocates argue that the SEC’s rejections are unfounded and that the approval of a spot ETF is likely to attract widespread institutional capital to the token, as it gives investors exposure to the token without needing to invest directly in cryptocurrencies.
But critics have questioned how much institutional capital will flow into bitcoin after such approval, given that current ETF offerings, which track bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, have seen investor interest decline over the past two years. .
The broader crypto industry is also battling a massive loss of faith following a series of high-profile frauds and bankruptcies throughout 2022 and 2023. Trading volumes, particularly in bitcoin, are also well below the highs seen during a bull run in 2021.
