If the American market regulatory authority calls itself the “Security and Exchange Commission” (SEC), the so-called “security” is nevertheless entirely relative. A false message published on the social network
Quickly deleted, this post misled Internet users by announcing that the regulator had authorized the highly anticipated marketing of a new bitcoin investment product, called ETF (Exchange Traded Fund).
These ETFs, similar to stocks representing a percentage of ownership of a bitcoin fund, are currently prohibited in the United States, but they could be approved soon. Their implementation should logically lead to a strong influx of investments in the main cryptocurrency, and therefore an increase in the price.
According to The echoesthe fake message displayed a smiling photo of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, along with a fabricated quote: “Today’s approval enhances market transparency and provides investors with efficient access to digital asset investments in a regulated framework.”
Bitcoin price at its highest in more than 22 months
Minutes after the fraudulent message was published, Gary Gensler warned on X that the regulator’s account had been “compromised” and that an “unauthorized tweet” had been published there. In the meantime, the price of bitcoin had risen to $47,914, the highest in more than twenty-two months, before falling by $6,000 a few minutes later.
“After this incident, the director of the SEC invited the public to consult the documents filed on the official website of his commission,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
X announced that it had opened an investigation. The social network also claimed that this hacking had been facilitated in particular because the SEC account had not activated double authentication, a basic and effective protection system, the use of which is very strongly recommended.
Towards an approval of bitcoin ETFs?
The market has been speculating for several weeks about the approval of ETFs, a new product which would offer investors, for the first time, an investment replicating the performance of bitcoin without them having to directly hold cryptocurrencies.
The SEC has repeatedly rejected marketing applications for similar products in the past, but a recent development changed the situation: at the end of October, a federal appeals court in Washington ruled confirmed that the SEC was not justified in denying approval to asset manager Grayscale for its bitcoin ETF.
A new decision from the SEC on ETFs is expected soon, because the Wall Street watchdog has until Wednesday to rule on the oldest validation request currently under investigation, that of the investment company 21Shares.