SEC's X account compromised to post fake spot bitcoin ETF approval

The Securities and Exchange Commission's X account was compromised to post a fake spot bitcoin ETF approval.

"The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

The account had posted that the SEC had granted approval for listing bitcoin ETFs on all registered securities exchanges with an image showing a quote by Gensler.

"The SEC's @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff," a spokesperson for the SEC told The Block.

This is one of the most high-profile examples of an X account being compromised in relation to cryptocurrency. In 2020, a much wider attack took place that compromised accounts of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett to share a crypto scam. A British man called Joseph O'Connor was later sentenced to five years over the attacks.

Beyond this, X accounts are compromised on a regular basis for many crypto accounts, typically to promote scam websites that carry out phishing attacks.

Ongoing approval process

Despite the fake approval, it is widely expected that spot bitcoin ETFs will be approved on Wednesday with trading to begin the following day.

The price of bitcoin spike to $47,600 on the fake announcement before dropping to around $45,500 after the news was deemed fake.

"I think someone prepped a planned tweet and put wrong date, bc the tweet would have made PERFECT sense tomorrow at this time," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas wrote in a post on X. "The language sounds legit SEC-ish IMO vs a crypto knucklehead pulling a prank but I guess we'll see."

(Updates with additional details throughout.)