Over $218 Million in Crypto Trades Liquidated After Fake Announcement of Bitcoin ETF Approval
In the past 24 hours, more than $218 million worth of cryptocurrency trades have been liquidated due to a fake government announcement claiming that Bitcoin spot ETFs have been approved in the United States. According to Coinglass, over $56 million in Bitcoin trades were liquidated in just one hour, affecting over 72,000 traders. The largest single liquidation occurred on the BTC/USD trade on ByBit for $6 million.
The official Twitter account of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claimed that approval had been granted for Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on national securities exchanges. However, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler later confirmed that the SEC’s account had been compromised and that ETFs were not approved.
The @SECGov X account was compromised, and an unauthorized post was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) January 9, 2024
Bitcoin Price Fluctuates as Market Reacts to Fake Announcement
Upon hearing the news, Bitcoin’s price surged to $47,800 before quickly dropping to $45,400 as the market tried to understand the situation. Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino reported that the SEC would need to investigate itself for potential market manipulation caused by the fake tweet. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas speculated that the tweet was genuine but was mistakenly scheduled a day earlier than the intended release of the approval announcement. Balchunas believes that ETFs will likely go live on Thursday.
Hot Take: Fake Announcement Causes Chaos in Crypto Market
A false government announcement regarding the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S. led to over $218 million in cryptocurrency trades being liquidated within 24 hours. Traders experienced significant losses, with over $56 million worth of Bitcoin trades being liquidated in just one hour. The SEC confirmed that their official Twitter account had been compromised and clarified that ETFs had not been approved. The market reacted swiftly to the news, with Bitcoin’s price surging and then plummeting. The incident has raised concerns about market manipulation and calls for an internal investigation by the SEC. Despite this setback, experts believe that ETFs may still go live in the near future.
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