SEC and Twitter Announce Investigations Into Fake Bitcoin ETF Tweet

A single fake Twitter post has sparked chaos in both the crypto space and broader financial markets, and both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Twitter itself are looking into what happened.

“The SEC has determined that 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,” the commission told Decrypt late Tuesday. “That unauthorized access has been terminated.”

“The SEC will work with law enforcement and our partners across government to investigate the matter and determine appropriate next steps relating to both the unauthorized access and any related misconduct,” the statement continued.

Describing the SEC Twitter account as “compromised,” chair Gary Gensler rushed to correct the record, saying that “the SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.” The crypto and financial communities eagerly anticipated such a move, albeit most assuming a late Wednesday decision deadline.

The fake news prompted a sudden dip in the value of Bitcoin, and while the fake tweet was deleted, the incident reverberated throughout the rest of the day. Some commentators asked whether the SEC—which broadly dismisses cryptocurrencies as a too-easily-manipulated market—would have to investigate itself.

Meanwhile, Twitter is is also on the case, according to crypto Twitter influencer Walter Bloomberg.

Although a prolific poster on his own platform, Twitter owner Elon Musk hasn’t had anything to say about the controversy, instead focusing on immigration, election integrity, and “exclusive shows on X” with hosts Don Lemon, Jim Rome, and Tulsi Gabbard.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.