U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have sent a letter to Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), demanding answers after the commission’s X account tweeted false information leading to “drastic swings in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.”
On Tuesday, the SEC’s X account published a post announcing that it had approved Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to be listed on all registered U.S. securities exchanges.
The price of Bitcoin, according to CNBC, “briefly spiked after the initial post, but then quickly slid below $46,000.”
A Bitcoin ETF “allows investors to buy a product that tracks the price of bitcoin through the same mechanism they already use to buy stock and bond index funds,” the outlet notes.
Fifteen minutes after the original post, the SEC posted again on X, announcing that its account was “compromised.”
The @SECGov X account was compromised, and an unauthorized post was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) January 9, 2024
“The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” the post added.
In their letter to the SEC chairman, Vance and Tillis said Tuesday’s developments “raise serious concerns regarding the Commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures and are antithetical to the Commission’s tripart mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”
“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 epicenter of the world’s capital markets would make such a colossal error,” the senators added.
The senators’ letter asked a list of questions for the chairman to answer regarding the commission’s plan to investigate the incident, among others.
One day after the SEC published the false announcement, the commission approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
“While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto,” the SEC said in a statement.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
