SEC Hack Deemed 'Unacceptable' by US Senator: Congress Demands Clarity

• US Senator Bill Hagerty Reacts To Recent SEC Hacking Incident
• SEC's Bitcoin ETF Approval: A False Alarm
• Congress Demands Accountability
• Impact of The SEC X Account Hacking
• SEC Under Scrutiny
• The Future of Spot Bitcoin ETFs

US Senator Bill Hagerty Reacts To Recent SEC Hacking Incident

US Senator Bill Hagerty has expressed strong criticism of the SEC's latest hacking incident, stating that it's time Congress received answers about the situation. A confusing event unfolded on Tuesday, when the SEC's X account posted an unexpected message at 4:00 PM ET. The tweet stated, Today, the SEC grants approval for Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.

SEC's Bitcoin ETF Approval: A False Alarm

However, this post was quickly revealed to be a false alarm, with SEC chair Gary Gensler reporting that the X account had been compromised. Senator Hagerty shared his concerns about the security incident, suggesting that a breach of this magnitude could significantly impact the market.

Congress Demands Accountability

Hagerty argued that, just as the SEC would hold a public company accountable for a significant market-impacting mistake, so should Congress demand answers in this case. He described the incident as unacceptable. The Tennessee senator also referenced a previous tweet by Gary Gensler which encouraged investors to bolster their account security with 2FA and strong passwords. This further highlighted the irony of the SEC's failure to adequately secure its own account against hacking attempts.

Impact of The SEC X Account Hacking

Following the hacking of the SEC's X account and the bogus announcement, Bitcoin's value experienced considerable fluctuations. At 4:15 PM ET, Bitcoin surged to $47,893, an increase of nearly $1,000 from its value just minutes before the announcement. However, once the news was revealed to be untrue, the cryptocurrency's price plummeted to below $46,000.

SEC Under Scrutiny

In the aftermath of the event, lawyers have suggested that the SEC itself should be subject to investigation for allowing the hacking incident to occur, potentially leading to large-scale market manipulation. The false announcement regarding Bitcoin ETFs is in violation of the SEC's new rules that were implemented in July, which mandate a high standard of cybersecurity risk management.

The Future of Spot Bitcoin ETFs

Decisions on Spot Bitcoin ETFs are expected to be reached this week. However, the recent hacking incident has added an additional layer of complexity to the situation. Now, the SEC must uncover how the breach occurred while also addressing the concerns of the US Congress.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker