Fake spot Bitcoin ETF tweet ‘likely wasn’t the SEC,’ says Blockchain Association director

Ron Hammond said the inclusion of the Bitcoin logo and the graphics scheme suggested that the SEC had not been behind drafting a spot BTC ETF approval tweet.

A fake tweet on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that shook the crypto market on Jan. 9 likely wasn’t issued by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a director at the Blockchain Association.

In a Jan. 16 X thread, Blockchain Association director of government relations Ron Hammond said a tweet announcing the approval of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) — which the SEC claimed was “compromised” — was unlikely to have been issued by the commission. Many online speculated that someone at the SEC had prematurely released the tweet announcing the ETF approval, given that the commission officially approved the ETFs on Jan. 10.

“When the news broke it was a mistweet, many in DC instantly thought it was a comms blunder,” said Hammond. “For major events like the ETF announcement, usually agencies/firms spend hours refining tweets so the idea of someone accidentally pressing send would make sense.”

The Blockchain Association director added:

“Many of the elements of the tweet weren’t SEC comms style. The bitcoin logo is a good example. The graphics were also not standard. So whoever was behind this, likely wasn’t the SEC.”

SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the commission claimed the Jan. 9 tweet — which offered a “false start” to the launch of several spot Bitcoin ETFs — resulted from a “compromised” X account. The social media platform’s Safety page announced on Jan. 10 that the SEC had not enabled multifactor authentication. 

“Whoever had access to the account decided to pounce on this moment and the amount of effort raises a lot of questions,” said Hammond. “But the SEC started off in a bad spot when it was announced they didn’t have two-factor authentication enabled.”

Related: Bitcoin ETF’s false start: Hack or fat-fingered SEC intern?

In the wake of the market-shaking tweet, many U.S. lawmakers have called for an investigation into the SEC’s practices. Senators Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis sent a letter to SEC Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey on Jan. 11, calling it “inexcusable” that the commission failed to follow its safety protocols. The SEC said it was coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the hack.

Following the listing of several shares of Bitcoin ETFs, U.S. exchanges reportedly experienced more than $1 billion of inflows to crypto products the week ending Jan. 12. The SEC’s approval of ETFs linked to Bitcoin futures in October 2021 resulted in roughly $1.5 billion of inflows in the first week of trading.