According to social media X on Tuesday, it has finished its first investigation into the hacked account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which featured a bogus post stating the SEC had authorized bitcoin exchange-traded funds for trading.
“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,” said X in the post, stating that the SEC’s account was hacked.
“We can also confirm that the account did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time the account was compromised,” X wrote in the post.
After the illegal upload, the price of bitcoin surged, but it quickly dropped below $46,000 when the SEC stated that the bitcoin ETF was still pending approval. It was trading at approximately $45,958 around 12:20 ET.
“The SEC’s @SECGovX/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff,” an SEC spokesperson informed CNBC on Tuesday afternoon.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler refuted the fake social media post claiming the regulator has authorized bitcoin ETFs for trade.
The regulator’s approval of the bitcoin ETF is anticipated by the market. After years of opposition, the SEC is set to reach a judgment this week.
Gensler has pursued cryptocurrency during his tenure, and the SEC is taking legal action against exchanges like Coinbase and Ripple, blaming both of them for selling unregistered securities.