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Digital artist Billy Restey has inscribed U.S. Securities and Exchange Chair Gary Gensler’s tweet debunking a false Bitcoin exchange-traded fund approval announcement onto the Bitcoin blockchain.
The inscription was a response to a security breach of the SEC’s official Twitter account, which led to a misleading post claiming that all thirteen spot Bitcoin ETFs had been approved, causing a temporary drop in Bitcoin’s price. Restey’s inscription immortalizes Gensler’s clarification tweet, ensuring that this moment in cryptocurrency history will not be forgotten.
The false tweet, which appeared on Tuesday, sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community, with Bitcoin’s value plummeting to just above US$45,500. Restey’s inscription, numbered 53,995,422, is one of over 53 million Ordinals inscriptions created since the protocol’s introduction.
Ordinals, often likened to Ethereum-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for the Bitcoin blockchain, allow for the minting of various digital assets, including images, text, and even video games.
Bitcoin has been the leading blockchain for NFTs by sales volume in the past 30 days, with over US$890 million in sales, CryptoSlam data shows. Ethereum, the all-time leader in sales, recorded over US$318 million in NFT sales in the same period.
There are 13 spot Bitcoin ETF applications from major financial institutions like BlackRock and Fidelity awaiting SEC approval. The agency’s deadline for Ark/21Shares’ application is today (Jan. 10).
According to Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst for Bloomberg, the SEC is expected to announce formal approvals for several spot Bitcoin ETFs as early as 4 p.m. ET.