The X account for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was hacked today to issue a fake announcement on the approval of Bitcoin ETFs on security exchanges.
The announcement came this afternoon in a now-deleted tweet from the SEC's hacked X account.
"Today the SEC grants approval to Bitcoin ETFs for listing on registered national security exchanges," read the fake X post.
"The approved Bitcoin ETFs will be subject to ongoing surveillance and compliance measures to ensure continued investor protection."
The tweet included an image of SEC Chairperson Gary Gensler with a quote promoting the alleged approval.
The news quickly spread, with many cryptocurrency and mainstream news sites covering the story and Bitcoin prices briefly spiking.
However, Bitcoin's jump in price was shortlived as it pulled back on news that the SEC's account on X was hacked to spread the fake news.
"The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted,"
tweeted SEC Chairperson Gensler.
"The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products."
This was further confirmed by an SEC spokesperson who told BleepingComputer that the "unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff."
