SEC Assessing if ‘Additional Remedial Measures’ Needed After False Bitcoin ETF Post

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it was still assessing whether “additional remedial measures” were warranted following a false post on its official account on X, the site formerly called Twitter, that claimed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds had been approved.

In a statement Friday, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said the agency was ”still assessing the impacts of this incident on the agency, investors, and the marketplace but recognize that those impacts include concerns about the security of the SEC’s social media accounts.”

The incident took place Tuesday when an unknown individual used a phone number associated with the SEC’s X account to access the agency’s profile and publish a false announcement approving Bitcoin ETFs, according to a preliminary investigation conducted by X.

The SEC ultimately approved the Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday.

“Based on current information, staff understands that, shortly after 4:00 pm ET on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, an unauthorized party gained access to the @SECGov X.com account by obtaining control over the phone number associated with the account,” Gensler said in a statement Friday.

“While SEC staff is still assessing the scope of the incident, there is currently no evidence that the unauthorized party gained access to SEC systems, data, devices, or other social media accounts,” he added.

Bitcoin BTCUSD -0.46% has fallen 3.8% over the past 24 hours to $43,150. Action in the world’s largest cryptocurrency has increased since the SEC approved the trading of the first ETFs that hold Bitcoin tokens themselves. Ethereum ETHEUR -1.77%, the the second-largest crypto, declined 4% to $2,559.

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