The FBI is working with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to find out what went wrong with a false post on the agency’s X account on Tuesday about approving a spot Bitcoin ETF, a spokesman said. "The SEC will continue to investigate this matter and coordinate with relevant law enforcement agencies, including the SEC Office of Inspector General and the FBI," the spokesperson said in an email.
Yesterday around 4pm ET, hundreds of thousands of SEC followers received a false post claiming that the agency had approved the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF on all registered stock exchanges, but this was not the case. Chairman Gary Gensler quickly posted about the flaw on his personal account and said nothing like this happened.
As the industry awaits the agency’s decision on whether to give the green light to a spot Bitcoin ETF, many analysts expect approval later today.
An SEC spokesman said the agency would provide an update when appropriate, adding that any action the agency takes on exchange rule filings will be announced on the agency's website and then published in the Federal Register.
X confirmed in an article that X’s SEC account was compromised because someone took control of the phone number associated with the account. The platform's security team noted that the SEC's account did not have two-factor authentication set up when it was compromised.
"I think we just witnessed the latest technology breach in Washington yesterday and a real low point for the SEC," Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said Wednesday afternoon during a House Financial Services Committee digital assets panel hearing.
Hill said that he, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (Patrick McHenry) and others will send a letter to Gensler on Wednesday to "begin to uncover how the SEC's Twitter account was hacked and how investors were misled yesterday regarding the approval of the Bitcoin digital asset ETF."
Other lawmakers also demanded an explanation, including Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
"Fraudulent announcements, such as those posted on SEC social media, can manipulate the market," Loomis posted on X on Tuesday. "We need transparency about what's going on."
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