We’ve all been awaiting the Bitcoin ETF approval in the USA and the subsequent Bitcoin Halving, all slated for this year… But on the 9th of January, there was a bloodbath in the Crypto space..

Apparently, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had released a viral X (formerly called Twitter) post, approving of the first Bitcoin Spot ETF in the United states and this led to a frenzy of buy orders in the Crypto market.

Unfortunately, 15 minutes after this announcement, it was alleged that the SEC official X (formely called Twitter) account had been hacked and the post in question made erroneously. This was confirmed by an official post by Gary Gensler, the Chairperson for the US Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC).

The initial “Unauthorized post” claimed that the Commission had granted approval for Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on National exchanges, showing a photo and faked quote from the SEC chair.The fake spot Bitcoin ETF approval post on X, which has since been deleted. Source: X

The crypto community had already expected a decision to be made on the above topic within the next 2days following several assets manager submitting the final filling of their applications, but it was still a shock to the crypto community as this “Unauthorized post” had apparently induced a Buy order frenzy on crypto exchanges of which when this news was proved wrong and unreliable, there was a huge downplay in the crypto market with Bitcoin going from $47,901 to $44, 701, suffering a massive $300 million liquidation of Bitcoin assets.

image source: Coinmarketcap

Though the social media post was false, the SEC may still approve a spot Bitcoin ETF. Neither Gensler’s nor the SEC’s tweet stated that the commission had plans to approve or deny the investment vehicle. A decision is expected on Spot BTC ETF from ARK Invest and 21Shares by Jan. 10, which some experts believe could lead to simultaneous approvals for other asset managers.

Some on social media suggested the information contained in the retracted SEC tweet was accurate, but released prematurely. The commission’s X account showed it “liked” two replies to the false tweet from random users — unusual activity from the SEC.

Official information from the SEC has said that this news was not released by any of their staff or officials and that there would be a legal investigation into the X post compromise.

Meanwhile, Securities lawyers has said that the U.S SEC would have to investigate itself for Market Manipulation regarding the release of the now fake news.

As we await more news on the Bitcoin ETF approvals by the U.S SEC, let's make sure to stay safe in the crypto space….