The U.S. securities regulator said someone briefly accessed its X social media account on Tuesday and posted a fake message saying it had approved exchange traded funds (ETF) for bitcoin, a move eagerly awaited by the crypto industry.
However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it has not yet approved spot bitcoin ETFs and its account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, had been compromised briefly by an unknown party after about 4 p.m. Eastern time (2100 GMT). The "unauthorized access has been terminated," the agency said.
It will work with law enforcement to investigate the hack and "related conduct," the SEC said.
X confirmed late on Tuesday that the SEC's account was compromised and said it was because of an "unidentified individual" obtaining control over a phone number associated with the agency's account through a third party.
The social media site owned by Elon Musk also said the SEC did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time the account was compromised and the hack was not due to any breach of X's systems, citing a preliminary investigation.
We can confirm that the account @SECGov was compromised and we have completed a preliminary investigation. Based on our investigation, the compromise was not due to any breach of X’s systems, but rather due to an unidentified individual obtaining control over a phone number…
— Safety (@Safety) January 10, 2024
