After the official Twitter account for the Securities and Exchange Committee tweeted the long-awaited approval for spot Bitcoin ETFs, Chair Gary Gensler took to his personal account on the social media platform to announce that the agency’s had been hacked.
“The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted,” he wrote. “The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.”
An agency spokesperson confirmed to Fortune in an email: “The SEC’s @SECGov X/Twitter account has been compromised. The unauthorized tweet regarding bitcoin ETFs was not made by the SEC or its staff.”
Financial markets have been awaiting news of the agency approving spot Bitcoin ETFs, which would give U.S. investors the ability to trade the popular cryptocurrency in the form of shares on major exchanges. While all signs pointed to an approval coming at the close of markets on Wednesday, a surprise post from the official SEC account seemed to announce the green light.
The episode represents a boondoggle for a saga that has plagued the agency, which long fought the approval of the investment vehicle, citing the potential for market manipulation. After a landmark victory in August by the crypto firm Grayscale, one of the prospective issuers for the Bitcoin ETF, in a lawsuit against the agency, the SEC began to reconsider the applications, which now included major players including BlackRock.
Even after Gensler’s retraction, the SEC is likely to approve the applications as soon as Wednesday, when it is required to issue a decision for one of the prospective issuers, Cathie Wood’s ARK.
