The SEC’s official social media account at Moments later, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a post on his own account that the agency’s account had been “hacked, and an unauthorized tweet was posted.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission followed up with job Repeating Gensler’s statement. An SEC spokesperson also confirmed to CNBC that an “unknown party” had accessed his account.
Late Tuesday night, Unsigned post sent from @Safety account He said: “Based on our investigations, the compromise was not due to any breach of X systems. Rather, it was due to an unidentified person controlling a phone number associated with the @SECGov account through a third party.
Mandiant, the Google-owned cybersecurity company, was just one of the high-profile accounts to fall victim to hackers, as its account was hacked last week to advertise a cryptocurrency scam that drained users’ wallets. Blockchain security firm CertiK also had her account hacked earlier this week for posting cryptocurrency phishing links.
The post from @Safety does not indicate that X will adjust its security policies in light of these recent events.
The illegal post sent from the SEC’s account read: “Today, the SEC grants approval to #Bitcoin ETFs for inclusion on all registered national securities. Approved Bitcoin ETFs will be subject to ongoing monitoring and compliance measures to ensure continued protection of… Investors: It included a photo of Gensler next to the quote, but was clearly missing any link to the SEC’s website that usually accompanies this type of news.
Screenshot by Emma Roth/The Verge
Whoever hacked the SEC account also started liking posts from cryptocurrency-focused accounts that expressed excitement about the SEC’s false approval of Bitcoin ETFs. Although the fake SEC post was only around for minutes, it managed to cause a sharp spike in the price of Bitcoin causing it to rise from approximately $46,746 to $47,863. That price has since dropped to $45,633 at the time of writing, according to data from CoinDeskalthough it has since risen to $46,173.
Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are pools of assets that work somewhat like mutual funds, with shares of ETFs traded on exchanges much like stocks do. A Bitcoin ETF would make it easier for investors to speculate on the price of Bitcoin without having to hold Bitcoin directly. This also allows them to avoid creating their own cryptocurrency wallets etc. The SEC has previously rejected all attempts to create a Bitcoin ETF.
Updated January 9, 7:15 PM ET: Added new information from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and updated price for Bitcoin.