SEC will investigate, ‘determine appropriate’ steps following X account compromise

The SEC has issued a new statement following market-moving fake news, saying the false post was made by an “unknown party”

by Katherine Ross&Casey Wagner /

January 9, 2024 06:50 pm

AevanStock/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

Hours after falsely announcing the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, the Securities and Exchange Commission clarified that its X account had been accessed by an “unauthorized” party.

A spokesperson for the SEC told Blockworks that the commission “determined that there was unauthorized access to” its X account “by an unknown party for a brief period of time shortly after 4 pm ET. That unauthorized access has been terminated.”

“The SEC will work with law enforcement and our partners across government to investigate the matter and determine appropriate next steps relating to both the unauthorized access and any related misconduct.”

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Late Tuesday, the SEC’s official X account posted that it had approved the spot bitcoin ETFs. A decision on the ETFs is expected Wednesday, which is the deadline for the spot bitcoin ETF proposal from Ark 21Shares.

Around 15 minutes later, SEC Chair Gary Gensler posted that the agency’s post about the approval was “unauthorized” and had not come from the SEC itself. Some ETF watchers previously noticed that the account had been acting strange and liking crypto-related posts.

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Gensler clarified that the agency “has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange traded products.”

The latest statement, issued to Blockworks around 6:30 pm ET, came about two hours after the agency’s first statement on the matter, in which an SEC spokesperson said the account had been “compromised” and the report of ETF approval was false.

Some issuers, including Valkyrie’s co-founder Steven McClurg, believe that the SEC will approve the ETFs.

The false post sent crypto markets temporarily soaring following the SEC’s clarification that a decision has yet to be made.

Senators Bill Hagerty, R-TN, and Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, took to X to demand accountability in the wake of the post.

“We need transparency on what happened,” Lummis said.

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