Regulators Gotta Protect Themselves, Too

SEC headquarters (WSJ photo)

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which is the powerful agency that makes financial rules and enforces them, is the victim of a fake tweet that purportedly approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold bitcoin.

Bitcoin briefly jumped to near $48,000 before [SEC Chair Gary] Gensler said on the social-media network that the message was “unauthorized” and that the SEC “has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.” The agency later posted that its account was “compromised.”

“It’s a hack,” a spokeswoman for the SEC said.

Bitcoin prices rose above $48,000 after the tweet then fell below $46,000 after the SEC disavowed it. As of today, the fault doesn't appear to be X's (Twitter's) but was due to the theft of the SEC's login credentials.

Nevertheless, it's embarrassing that powerful government agencies like the SEC, IRS, and FBI have security breaches that give the impression of incompetence and even untrustworthiness.

Update: SEC Approves Bitcoin ETFs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted Wednesday to allow mainstream investors to buy and sell bitcoin as easily as stocks and mutual funds, a decision hailed by the industry as a game changer.