TheCorporateCounsel.net

Yesterday afternoon, as reported by the WSJ, the SEC’s official X account @SECGov briefly stated bitcoin ETFs had been approved. Bitcoin prices shot up to nearly $48,000 before Chair Gensler clarified, also on X, that the post was unauthorized, the official account had been compromised and the SEC had not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products. Here’s more from the article:

An SEC spokeswoman said that an unknown party had accessed the agency’s X account for a brief period after 4 p.m. The SEC will work with law enforcement to investigate the episode and pursue “next steps relating to both the unauthorized access and any related misconduct,” she added.

The article also explains that the tweet was well-timed:

Crypto investors have been eagerly anticipating an SEC green light for spot bitcoin ETFs from big asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity Investments, after a more-than-decadelong wait. Analysts say approval is highly likely after a flurry of activity in which SEC staff, ETF issuers and exchanges hashed out technical details for the funds’ operations in recent weeks.

Wednesday is the deadline for the SEC to approve or reject the listing of just one fund, a joint venture from Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management and crypto asset manager 21Shares. But several competing funds are also in the final stages of the process, and ETF executives expect multiple approvals to come at once, so one fund doesn’t gain a first-mover advantage. Fund managers have slashed their fees and launched advertising campaigns in anticipation that the ETFs will start trading.

Late last night, X, through the account @Safety, posted its explanation of how the SEC’s account was compromised.

– Meredith Ervine