The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's account on X, formerly known as Twitter, was “compromised” Tuesday.
The @SECGov account shared false information through a post, since deleted, at around 4 p.m. ET, stating that the agency had granted "approval for Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges" and that the "approved Bitcoin ETFs will be subject to ongoing surveillance and compliance measures to ensure continued investor protection."
The post also included an attached graphic with a supposed quote from SEC Chair Gary Gensler, saying, “Today’s approval enhances market transparency and provides investors with efficient access to digital asset investments within a regulated framework."
In just 18 minutes, the post had over 35,000 likes and over 26,000 retweets.
Shortly after the post, Gensler took to X to explain that the account had been hacked.
“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,” his post read.
The SEC later responded to a request for information from Scripps News, saying: "there was unauthorized access to and activity on the @SECGov x.com account by an unknown party for a brief period of time shortly after 4 pm ET. That unauthorized access has been terminated."
The hack remains under investigation and the SEC says it will work with law enforcement and partners across the government to "determine appropriate next steps relating to both the unauthorized access and any related misconduct."
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