The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suffered a cybersecurity breach that saw a hacker compromise its account on the microblogging platform X. The attacker used the platform to erroneously announce the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The security breach led to a temporary spike in the price of Bitcoin to a high near the $48,000 mark and triggered an investigation by US authorities into how the regulator was hacked.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts, who often see the stance of SEC Chair Gary Gensler towards the sector detrimental, commented widely on the breach and pointed to the irony of a cyberattack hitting a regulator that often cautions about the online risks of cryptocurrencies.
The SEC has said it’s now collaborating with law enforcement to look into the incident, noting that the unauthorized access has been terminated and that the announcement of the spot Bitcoin ETF approval wasn’t made by the SEC. In a separate statement, Gensler noted no decision on ETFs has been made.
Elon Musk, CEO of X, confirmed that the SEC’s account was compromised and found that an “unidentified individual” managed to obtain control over a phone number associated with the regulator through a third party.
Per Musk, the SEC’s account wasn’t protected with two-factor authentication when it was compromised. The breach came a day ahead of today’s deadline for the regulator to decide on the ARK and 21 Shares spot Bitcoin ETF application. Some analysts believe the SEC will approve several spot Bitcoin ETFs at the same time.
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- Source: https://www.cryptocompare.com/email-updates/daily/2024/jan/10/
