Coinbase executives offer to help the SEC with its security practices

Executives at crypto exchange Coinbase are offering their help to the Securities and Exchange Commission after the latter's X account was compromised on Tuesday to post a fake spot bitcoin ETF approval message.

"Serious offer: as a crypto exchange we've had a lot of experience with security protocols around social media, and as a veteran and patriot I love to help my country," said Coinbase Chief Security Officer Philip Martin on X. "If you'd like any suggestions feel free to reach out."

Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal — who initially said he was biting his tongue after the fake post went out — went one step further. "The entire Coinbase team offers its help. We are committed to doing our part to ensure fair, orderly and efficient markets for all Americans," he added.

Coinbase's offer comes despite the SEC being the very agency that is suing it, claiming it violated securities laws and is running an unregistered exchange.

The SEC's premature spot bitcoin ETF message

On Tuesday, the SEC's official account posted that the SEC had granted approval for listing bitcoin ETFs on all registered securities exchanges with an image showing a quote by SEC Chair Gary Gensler. It was shortly deleted with follow up posts claiming it was unauthorized and that spot bitcoin ETFs had not been approved by that point.

The SEC has said it will work with law enforcement to investigate the breach and any related misconduct. X said the breach happened as someone obtained control over a phone number associated with the account. The social media platform said the SEC did not set up two-factor authentication for its account when it was compromised.

In the aftermath, United States senators J.D. Vance and Thom Tillis sent a letter to Gensler requesting clarification on the security breach, which the two described as “unacceptable.”

“These developments raise serious concerns regarding the Commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures and are antithetical to the Commission’s tripart mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation,” the letter said.

The SEC has previously posted on X that the only source of information about the SEC is the SEC and Gensler had previously encouraged the use of multi-factor authentication as part of cybersecurity awareness month.