SEC’s account compromise was not ‘attributable to breach of X’s techniques,’ firm says

Social media X stated late Tuesday it has accomplished a preliminary probe into the compromised account of the U.S. Securities and Change Fee that displayed a false submit claiming the SEC had authorized bitcoin ETFs for buying and selling.

“Based mostly on our investigation, the compromise was not attributable to any breach of X’s techniques, however relatively attributable to an unidentified particular person acquiring management over a cellphone quantity related to the @SECGov account by a 3rd occasion,” stated X in a post on Wednesday, confirming that the SEC’s account was compromised.

“We are able to additionally affirm that the account didn’t have two-factor authentication enabled on the time the account was compromised,” stated X within the submit.

Bitcoin costs shot up following the unauthorized submit, however quickly fell under $46,000 after the SEC clarified that it had not yet approved the bitcoin ETF.

“The SEC’s @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet relating to bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its workers,” an SEC spokesperson informed CNBC on Tuesday afternoon.

The false social media submit stated the regulator had authorized bitcoin ETFs for buying and selling, which was denied by SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

The market expects the regulator to greenlighted the bitcoin ETF. The SEC is expected to decide on it this week after opposing the concept for years.

Gensler has gone after crypto throughout his tenure, with the SEC taking authorized motion towards exchanges equivalent to Coinbase and Ripple, accusing each of promoting unregistered securities.

– CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed to this report.