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The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday afternoon that an announcement about bitcoin ETFs on social media was incorrect.
“The SEC’s @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff,” an SEC spokesperson told CNBC.
The SEC is expected to make a decision on bitcoin ETFs this week after opposing them for years. More than a dozen asset managers have filed applications to create such a fund, including many that filed updated registrations on Tuesday morning.
The price of bitcoin briefly spiked after the false social media post, but then quickly slid below $46,000.
The cryptocurrency has been climbing in recent months, in part because of growing optimism that the so-called spot bitcoin ETFs would be approved. Crypto advocates contend that the launch of those funds could bring in a new type of investors into digital assets.
ETFs are an asset class that financial advisors use regularly. The idea is that advisors and investors who have been spooked by the intricacies around custody of bitcoin would be more willing and able to buy crypto in an ETF wrapper.
Correction: A previous version of this story said that the SEC had approved bitcoin ETFs for trading. The story has been updated to reflect that a false social media post was made.
