The official account of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on X, formerly known as Twitter, displayed a false post claiming the agency's approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for trading.

Shortly after the post appeared, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler clarified Tuesday on his personal account that the agency's account was compromised, according to CNBC.

"The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products," said Gensler, who called the post unauthorized without giving further explanation.

(Photo : STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Bitcoin logo is seen on a Coinstar cryptocurrency ATM at a grocery store in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2023.

Price of Bitcoin Briefly Jumped After False Post in SEC Account on X

Bitcoin prices spiked more than $1,000 following the post on X but quickly dropped below $46,000 after the SEC clarified that it had yet to approve bitcoin ETFs.

The SEC also issued a follow-up post reiterating Gary Gensler's statement about the hacking incident. A spokesperson from the agency told CNBC that an "unknown party" had gained access to its account.

The false post from the SEC's account claimed, "Today the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities. The approved Bitcoin ETFs will be subject to ongoing surveillance and compliance measures to ensure continued investor protection." 

However, the post lacked the usual link to the SEC's website that usually accompanies such announcements.

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X Conducts Preliminary Investigation

 X conducted a preliminary investigation into the compromised SEC account and said that the incident did not result from any breach in its systems. Instead, an unidentified individual gained control over a phone number associated with the @SECGov account through a third party.

"Based on our investigation, the compromise was not due to any breach of X's systems, but rather due to an unidentified individual obtaining control over a phone number associated with the @SECGov account through a third party," X said in the post. 

"We can also confirm that the account did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time the account was compromised. We encourage all users to enable this extra layer of security," it added.

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