The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has vehemently denied its staff had any involvement in posting the recent “unauthorized” tweet claiming spot Bitcoin ETFs had been approved, though some in the crypto community still think otherwise. 

On Jan. 9, the official X account of the SEC tweeted that it had granted approvals for Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on all registered national securities exchanges. This turned out to be false , according to statements from SEC chair Gary Gensler and the official SEC X account. 

Despite this, some pundits on X still believe the post was constructed by the SEC — just accidentally sent out. Others say there are 

Okay, hear me out. I think wording here is important.

Compromised isn't always a hack.

Unauthorized tweet aren't always false.

SEC has not approved the listing AND trading because... well, yeah, no decision had been (publicly) released yet.

Or... we're fucked, see you under… https://t.co/E7Vcbh8XFR pic.twitter.com/1UnnPi8DEA

— Loma (@LomahCrypto) January 9, 2024

However, others have taken a fine-tooth comb to the “unauthorized" post, noting hashtags and the Bitcoin icon was out of place for the SEC.

Nah, we got Punk’d.

The "tell" on the official SEC account was when it used the btc emoji cashtag:

" #Bitcoin   "

on the "official" Tweet. pic.twitter.com/mW3b5nt339

— Compound248 (@compound248) January 9, 2024

Another X user pointed to the SEC’s use of the words “compromised” and “unauthorized” to suggest that the account had not been hacked.

SEC Hack Timeline:

3:11 — @SECGov tweets all #Bitcoin ETFs are approved

3:26 — @GaryGensler says SEC account was hacked

~3:38 — SEC “regains control” of their account deletes original tweet

3:42 — SEC tweets they were hacked have not approved ETFs

Something is fishy… pic.twitter.com/CVHLlY2SdN

— Walker⚡️ (@WalkerAmerica) January 9, 2024

The price of Bitcoin ( BTC ) whipsawed violently in the dwindling hours of Jan. 9 as the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the SEC posted a tweet claiming that spot Bitcoin ETFs had been approved.

A spokesperson from the SEC told Cointelegraph that the SEC staff played no role in publishing the false Bitcoin ETF tweet. 

“The SEC’s @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff.”

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.