Senators round on SEC over ‘colossal error’ with fake Bitcoin ETF tweet

US Senators have given Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler a severe tongue-lashing with a bruising open letter slamming the authority’s inability to prevent its Twitter account being hacked.

The SEC last night posted on Twitter/X that it had given approval to all Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund) applications.

However, it soon became apparent the post was fake, although it was later confirmed by the social media platform’s security chiefs as actually coming from the official account of the SEC which did not have all its available security measures in place.

Gensler himself quickly took to Twitter to confirm the announcement was not real.

The fallout has since resulted in scathing criticism from various angles, but none more so than a joint open letter from US Senators JD Vance and Thom Tillis.

“On January 9th at 4:11pm, the Commission’s official X account announced that it had approved Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to be listed on all registered US securities exchanges. The announcement was immediately reported by major news outlets and shared widely on social media, resulting in the price of Bitcoin significantly spiking in value,” the letter began.

“At 4:26pm, you posted on X that the Commission’s account was compromised and made an unauthorized post, clarifying that the Commission had not approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products. The news, introducing widespread confusion regarding the approval status of Bitcoin ETFs, caused the price of Bitcoin to plummet.

“These developments raise serious concerns regarding the Commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures and are antithetical to the Commission’s tri-part mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. 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 United States is home to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital markets and stability and soundness are imperative if investors are to maintain their trust in our markets. It is unacceptable that the agency entrusted with regulating the epicentre of the world’s capital markets would make such a colossal error.”