Analysts in the crypto community wonder if the false announcement on the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) approval from the X account of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an inside job.
In a tweet, Gabor Gurbacs, the director of digital asset initiatives at investment management firm VanEck, also vying for a spot Bitcoin ETF, asked if the SEC intentionally orchestrated the event to stop or delay the widely anticipated product.
SEC Announcement: an Inside Job?
As CryptoPotato reported on Tuesday, the SEC’s X account posted a tweet claiming that the agency had approved spot Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on all national securities exchanges in the U.S. The regulator added that the products would give investors access to cryptocurrencies within a regulated framework.
In less than an hour, SEC chair Gary Gensler debunked the news, calling it unauthorized and disclosing that the X account had been compromised as it had no two-factor authentication. Unlike the tweet mentioned, he stated that the SEC had not approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs. The post has now been deleted.
Besides Gurbacs’ speculation that the tweet may have been an inside job, he also wondered if the agency had published the announcement earlier than they planned, adding that it would be “unreasonable” to delay the approval based on the event.
Comments under Gurbacs’ tweet support the speculation that the announcement may have been published earlier than planned, as it does not make sense that the SEC got their hacked account back so quickly.
Demand for SEC Report
While speculation abounds in the crypto community on the reason for the SEC’s false announcement, two U.S. senators have demanded that the agency publish a report with details on the incident no later than January 23.
Senators J.D. Vance and Thom Tillis said the issue raised “serious concerns” about the Commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures, adding that it was unacceptable for an agency entrusted with the epicenter of the world’s capital markets to make such a “colossal error.”
“The announcement and subsequent reversal led to extreme volatility in the price of Bitcoin. Investors were, and remain, incredibly confused by the Commission’s communications surrounding the long-awaited and consequential decision regarding Bitcoin ETFs,” the duo stated.
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