According to Blockworks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clarified that its account had been accessed by an unauthorized party, hours after falsely announcing the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs. A spokesperson for the SEC stated that the commission determined there was unauthorized access to its account by an unknown party for a brief period of time shortly after 4 pm ET, which has since been terminated. The SEC plans to work with law enforcement and government partners to investigate the matter and determine appropriate next steps relating to the unauthorized access and any related misconduct.
Late Tuesday, the SEC's official account posted that it had approved the spot bitcoin ETFs, with a decision on the ETFs expected Wednesday, which is the deadline for the spot bitcoin ETF proposal from Ark 21Shares. Around 15 minutes later, SEC Chair Gary Gensler posted that the agency's post about the approval was unauthorized and had not come from the SEC itself. Gensler clarified that the agency has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange traded products. The false post sent crypto markets temporarily soaring following the SEC's clarification that a decision has yet to be made.
Senators Bill Hagerty, R-TN, and Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, took to social media to demand accountability in the wake of the post. Lummis stated that transparency is needed on what happened.