SEC Lawyers to Investigate False News About Bitcoin ETF for Market Manipulation

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Lawyers for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are calling for an investigation into possible market manipulation.

In an interview with Fox Business, SEC lawyers said the regulator will investigate SEC X for possible market manipulation after it adjusted the price of Bitcoin (BTC) up or down based on false posts on its account. The price increase follows false news on January 9 regarding the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF.

“That being said, the SEC’s disapproval tomorrow would be unprecedented; it has never rejected an ETF application of this magnitude.”

Charles Gasparino, Fox Correspondent

Breaking News: Securities Lawyers Tell @foxbusiness this @SECGov After adjusting prices, you will have to investigate yourself for market manipulation Bitcoin USD Bitcoin prices have been bouncing up and down following a hacked tweet claiming the company had approved the first spot BTC ETF, then later saying it was fake. In other words, for the SEC…

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) January 9, 2024

U.S. lawyers and senators have also called on the SEC to investigate the false data. In particular, Senator Cynthia Lummis asked the SEC to provide transparency into the events that led to the now-deleted post.

Fraudulent announcements, such as those posted on SEC social media, may manipulate the market. We need transparency about what’s going on.

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) January 9, 2024

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffarth suggestion SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will be furious at employees involved in the security breach. However, it is unclear what or who caused the fake news to be posted on X.

Bitcoin responded to the publication of this rebuttal, falling more than 6% to $44,700. As of this writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $46,000.