At first it appeared in a statement on the short message platform X that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was clearing the way for a listing. Subsequently, a statement from the head of the supervisory authority said that the report was false. Accordingly, hackers gained access to the official SEC user account and sent the message.
The price of the oldest and best-known digital currency initially jumped briefly on the Coinbase trading platform in the evening, but then turned around just above the $47,900 mark and came under pressure because of the new findings.
Market expert Timo Emden from Emden Research believes it is possible that recent events will lead to a postponement of the SEC’s decision on approval. “The misleading news about the alleged approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF in the USA impressively underlines the challenges of investor protection and should provide the US regulator SEC with powerful arguments to put it through its paces again in a future decision to examine,” he said. However, the SEC has to decide by January 10th. The chances have increased that the authority will put its decision on hold at the last minute.
But according to Emden, investors could also be unsettled by the confusion. “It remains to be seen whether investors remain optimistic despite the confusion at this point in time.” In the short term, their trust may seem lost.
This is how the Bitcoin price develops
After the recent turbulence surrounding the fake announcement regarding the approval of certain Bitcoin funds, the price of the oldest and best-known digital currency showed significant losses on Wednesday.
On the Bitfinex trading platform, Bitcoin was most recently quoted at $44,970, clearly below the highest level since March 2022 reached the previous day.
The Bitcoin price had recently benefited significantly from speculation about a hoped-for positive decision: since mid-October alone, it had gained 76 percent at its peak.
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There has been speculation for months that the US Securities and Exchange Commission could clear the way for Bitcoin spot ETFs. A decision on this is expected this Wednesday. It could have far-reaching consequences for the entire crypto industry. Bitcoin spot ETFs would make cryptocurrencies more available to an even broader investor base than they currently are.
Short message service X admits hacker attack
The short message service X has admitted the hacker attack on the user account of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As X announced on Wednesday, an unknown person had gained control of a telephone number associated with the account through a third party. At the time her account was breached, the SEC would not have enabled two-factor authentication. The platform formerly known as Twitter limited the important security feature to paying users at the beginning of last year.
On his website he writes that it is owned by the billionaire Elon Musk standing companies that it proactively protects certain accounts, such as those of government representatives. It remained unclear whether the SEC account was covered. Without that protection, hackers could have taken over the account with an old leaked password, said former FBI security analyst Austin Berglas. While X did not attribute the incident to loopholes in its systems, cyber analysts were concerned. “Where you can take over the SEC account and potentially influence the value of Bitcoin in the market, there are massive opportunities for disinformation,” Berglas added.
Unidentified people cracked the SEC account on Tuesday and published false information about an expected announcement from the agency on Bitcoin. According to the false post, the SEC had approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to include Bitcoin, which boosted the cryptocurrency’s price and caused turmoil in the market. The SEC deleted the post about 30 minutes after it was published and is investigating the incident with law enforcement.
Owner Musk has repeatedly praised the short message service’s security since he bought it in October 2022, but former employees say it has deteriorated since then. The billionaire cut X’s security budget by 50 percent after purchasing the social media platform. He also wanted to abolish programs to fix digital vulnerabilities, according to a lawsuit filed by the former IT security chief last month. Alan Rosa was fired when he opposed measures.
In the past, the platform has struggled with hijacked accounts on several occasions, such as in 2020, when a teenager cracked numerous accounts of leading US politicians and managers. These included, among other things, the profiles of the former president Barack Obama and Tesla founder Musk, long before he bought Twitter.
In Europe, X is the focus of the new Digital Services Act. The EU targeted the short message service in December for possible violations of the distribution of illegal content.
FRANKFURT/NEW YORK (Reuters/dpa-AFX)
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