The crypto community was in an uproar when on January 9th, several media sources wrongly reported a story based on a tweet from the official X account of the SEC. The tweet suggested that the SEC had given its first-ever approval for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
However, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through its Chairman, Gary Gensler has since clarified that it has not approved the listing and trading of any spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products. The SEC confirmed that the earlier post indicating such approval was incorrect. This statement came after several media sources had prematurely reported on the SEC’s supposed 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.
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) January 9, 2024
X, the well-known social media network, has confirmed that the official account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was compromised. This security incident has raised a wave of worries, particularly in light of the platform’s notable takeover by Elon Musk in 2022.
The unauthorized post alleged that the commission had endorsed the listing of Bitcoin ETFs on American exchanges, displaying an image and a fabricated quote attributed to the SEC chair. The SEC subsequently removed the initial tweet, which by then had already garnered millions of views.
In an official statement, the SEC clarified that the unauthorized tweet “did not originate from the SEC or its personnel.” A considerable number of people were anticipating the commission’s verdict on a spot Bitcoin ETF in the following two days, as numerous asset managers had finalized some of their last application filings.
The Crypto Community and Market Have Expressed Their Disappointment to the Situation
Before Gensler announced the breach of the SEC’s X account, the cryptocurrency community and market responded in kind. The value of BTC experienced a brief surge of approximately 2.5%, moving from $46,729 to $47,901 before it fell by about 7% to $44,701. According to data from CoinMarketCap, at the time of writing, the price of BTC was around $45,500, marking a 2% decrease in the last 24 hours.
Several prominent crypto experts took the opportunity to criticize the SEC’s lack of security measures, suggesting that if the agency can’t protect its social media accounts, how can it be expected to protect investors.
How are you supposed to protect investors when you can’t even protect your Twitter account?
— Walker⚡️ (@WalkerAmerica) January 9, 2024
Others have suggested that the SEC was manipulating the crypto market.
Market manipulation by the SEC.
You can’t make it up lmao.
— hoeem (@crypthoem) January 9, 2024
And, of course, the memes were at the forefront of the situation.
SEC Twitter account security pic.twitter.com/xAdU8mE5Zv
— null.eth (@null_eth) January 9, 2024
Finally, one user echoed the sentiment of the crypto community in general, by suggesting Gary Gensler be fired from the SEC.
Maybe use 2FA?
Fire Gary Gensler— Whale | Dinobet.io (@WhaleChart) January 9, 2024
