Hacker or fat-fingered SEC intern?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has denied any involvement in a recent “unauthorized” tweet by employees claiming that bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were approved. .
On January 9, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the SEC granted permits for Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on all registered national securities exchanges. According to statements from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and the SEC, this turned out to be false.
Despite this, some researchers at X believe the post was made by the SEC – but may have been sent too early or by mistake. Others argue that there are clues to why this is not the case.
Okay, listen, I think wording is important here.
Negotiation is not always hacking.
An unauthorized tweet is not always a lie.
The SEC has not approved the listing and transaction because… well, yes, no decision has been released (officially) yet.
Or… we're mad, see you below… pic.twitter.com/1UnnPi8DEA
— Lomah (@LomahCrypto) January 9, 2024
Another X user indicated that the SEC option was “hacked” and “unauthorized” to indicate that the account was not hacked, or that the post was meant to be sent later.
However, other hashtags and the self-explanatory Bitcoin icon are out of place for the SEC, who believe the hack may have taken place as reported.
We got punk'd.
The “thing” on the official SEC account was using the btc emoji hashtag.
“#Bitcoin”
On the “official” tweet. pic.twitter.com/mW3b5nt339
— Compound248 (@compound248) January 9, 2024
Meanwhile, Adam Cochran of CinemaHine Ventures suggested that both theories could be true at the same time.
“My guess is that the SEC account was both hacked and the tweet is true,” he wrote in a January 9 X post. “Hackers first tweeted and then deleted just one sign. Then he probably found the tweet with the ad graphic and the Gensler quote in his drafts folder.
“A hacker is not going to be someone who carefully plans and designs a graphic in the SEC style and is also stupid enough to tweet a meme ticker. So both things are true, and the approval announcement is lined up,” Cochrane added.
My guess is that the SEC account was both hacked and the tweet is real.
A hacker first tweeted and then deleted just one sign.
Then he probably found the tweet with the ad graphic and the Gensler quote in his drafts folder.
The SEC doesn't get the date wrong, and just a tweet… pic.twitter.com/RQp7Mo4Zey
— Adam Cochran (@adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) January 9, 2024
Related: Lawyers, Politicians Call for SEC Investigation on Bitcoin ETF Post
Further adding to the possibility of hacking, the “Likes” section of the SEC's official account was showing two crypto-related accounts around the time the page posted the fake ad.
On January 9th, Bitcoin prices rallied amid the waning controversy.
An SEC spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the agency's staff played no role in publishing the fake Bitcoin ETF tweet.
“The SEC's @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet regarding the Bitcoin ETF was not made by the SEC or its staff.
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