Fake US SEC Tweet About Bitcoin ETF Sparks Wild BTC Price Swing
Twitter’s @Safety account confirmed that @SECGov was compromised, attributing the breach to an individual gaining control of a phone number linked to the account, rather than a system breach.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) official Twitter account, also known as X, was recently compromised in a hacking incident.
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Key Points
- The false tweet claimed that the SEC had approved the first spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), causing a significant reaction in the cryptocurrency market.
- U.S. SEC chairman Chair Gary Gensler clarified that the account was hacked, and no such approval had been granted.
- This unauthorized tweet led to a sharp volatility in Bitcoin’s price, surging to $48,000 upon the post of the tweet and swiftly back to $45,000 when the market figured out that the tweet was fake.
- The hacked tweet was deleted approximately 25 minutes after it was posted, but it had already caused a substantial reaction in the financial markets, as referenced in the Bitcoin price swing above.
Aftermath: Twitter Confirms Hack of SEC Twitter Account
- According to Coindesk, $50 million worth was liquidated in the crypto markets during the time of the tweet (and the announcement that it was fake).
- The U.S. SEC and Twitter have announced investigations into the matter.
- Twitter’s @Safety account confirmed that @SECGov was compromised, attributing the breach to an individual gaining control of a phone number linked to the account, rather than a system breach. They also noted that two-factor authentication was not enabled at the time of the compromise and advised all users to activate this additional security measure.
- This prompted people such as prominent crypto community member ZachXBT to post a previous tweet by Gensler about account security. (See the tweet below.)
- Cointelegraph said U.S. politicians are also calling for an investigation. A new report from the publication said the ETF approval is unlikely to be delayed despite the incident.
Market Awaits U.S. SEC Decision
- The SEC had been anticipated to make a decision on the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, which has been a subject of interest for investors for some time.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs are seen as a way to make Bitcoin more accessible to mainstream investors, allowing them to speculate on Bitcoin’s price movements without directly buying the cryptocurrency.
This is a developing story, published on BitPinas: SEC Twitter Account Hacked, False Bitcoin ETF Approval Tweet Sparks Market Turbulence
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