Unknown hackers hijacked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account and posted fake spot Bitcoin ETF approval messages.
On January 9, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler debunked the announcement that a spot Bitcoin ETF had been approved. The notice was posted on the SEC’s official X account. However, Gensler warned that the page was compromised and that no spot Bitcoin ETF has been approved yet.
This isn’t the first time hackers have misled cryptocurrency watchers and the public amid the hot anticipation for these products. In December, a fake XRP ETF was registered in Delaware, disguising BlackRock as the filer. BlackRock immediately dismissed the rumor, but the price of XRP surged 12% in 30 minutes.
News of the approval of a fake Bitcoin (BTC) ETF received millions of views within minutes of being published. BTC price also responded with a 3% price drop.
