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The financial world was rattled on Jan. 9 when the official X account of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was hacked to post fake news about the approval of a spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund. This development has raised fresh concerns about whether the market regulator will go ahead with its plans to approve the product as anticipated by the community.
What comes next?
Hacks of high-profile government accounts on popular social media platforms like X are not uncommon. As confirmed by the market regulator, it has launched an investigation into the attack, with plans to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
With trust in the SEC's X account now compromised, it remains uncertain whether today’s projected timeline for spot Bitcoin ETF approval is still feasible. However, Fox Business Network’s Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino noted that, based on precedent, it would be quite rare for the market regulator to get as far as the stage it is in with Bitcoin ETF applications and deny the proposals altogether.
BREAKING: Securities lawyers tell @FoxBusiness the @SECGov will have to investigate itself for market manipulation after moving the price of $BTC up and down following the hacked tweet that it had approved the first spot BTC ETF and then saying it was fake. That said, for the SEC…
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) January 9, 2024
In line with the hack, many in the crypto ecosystem are nursing the idea of a conspiracy theory, noting that the accident might have been orchestrated so that there would be new grounds for denial of the spot Bitcoin ETF application. While this school of thought will be substantiated in the launched investigation, the expectation is that the approval will proceed as planned.
Bitcoin lying in wait for rally
The Bitcoin price temporarily rallied above $47,890 following the fake news of the approvals. The coin has dropped and is now changing hands for $45,859.90, down 2.07% in the past 24 hours. The digital currency is likely to see its major breakout moment if an officially certified update about the spot Bitcoin ETF approval is issued.
One of the core projections for a Bitcoin price surge came from Samson Mow, who foresees a $1,000,000 price tag in the long term.