US Senator Bill Hagerty has called the SEC’s latest hacking incident “unacceptable,” and says that Congress demands answers on what happened. Shortly after 4:00 PM ET on Tuesday, the SEC’s X account posted “Today, the SEC grants approval for Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” However, it was a false alarm, as SEC chair Gary Gensler would shortly after say that the SEC’s X account was compromised.
JUST IN:
Senator Bill Hagerty says what happened with the SEC is unacceptable and Congress needs answers.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) January 9, 2024
Also Read: SEC X Account Hacked, Bitcoin ETF Approval Claims Are False
Senator Hagerty went on to call out the SEC, implying that the hack was a market-impacting mistake. “Just like the SEC would demand accountability from a public company if they made such a colossal market-moving mistake, Congress needs answers on what just happened,” Hagerty posted on X. “This is unacceptable.”
The Tennessee senator went on to bring up a previous tweet by Gary Gensler, urging investors to secure their financial accounts with 2FA and use strong passwords. This response poked fun at the Chairman, for the SEC also appeared to fail at securing its X account enough to avoid hacks.
SEC X Account Gets Hacked, Reports Fake Bitcoin ETF Approvals
Following the hack into the SEC’s X account and fake announcement, Bitcoin’s price saw major shifts. At 4:15 PM ET, Bitcoin skyrocketed to $47,893, up nearly $1,000 from just minutes before the announcement. However, following the news being reported as faults, it immediately crashed down to under $46,000. Lawyers immediately said that the SEC should begin investigating itself for allowing the hack to happen and causing mass market manipulation.
Also Read: Securities Lawyers: SEC Must Investigate itself for Bitcoin manipulation Following Hack
The Bitcoin ETF announcement hack would have violated new SEC rules adopted in July that require a high level of “cyber security risk management,” according to Fox Business analyst Charles Gasparino. Spot Bitcoin ETFs are expected to be decided on this week, possibly tomorrow according to experts. Now though, following the hack, the SEC has to find answers to how it happened and answer to the US Congress.
