Bitcoin surges after US regulator X account hack

The price of bitcoin briefly spiked Tuesday after an announcement of the approval of a long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on X, formerly known as Twitter, turned out to be fake. 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) described a social media post on its X account as "unauthorized," adding it was hacked.

It briefly spiked more than $1,000 (€914) to almost $48,000 after the post announced, "SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges."

Minutes after the initial post appeared, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler wrote on his personal X account: "The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products."

"The unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff," an SEC spokesperson later told French news agency AFP.

It was unclear how the regulator's social media account was compromised, but it appeared to regain control soon after. 

What is the long-awaited ETF?

The SEC was expected to decide on bitcoin ETFs very soon after opposing them for years.

Last year, a federal appeals court in Washington declared that the SEC was not justified in rejecting asset manager Grayscale's approval for its bitcoin ETF.

The ETF would make it possible to invest in bitcoin without having to buy it outright on a crypto exchange such as Binance or Coinbase.

Should the ETF be approved, analysts expect it would broaden bitcoin's appeal and accelerate its adoption.

rmt/lo (AFP, AP)