Over $218 million in cryptocurrency trades were liquidated in the past 24 hours following a fake SEC announcement claiming Bitcoin spot ETFs were approved.
According to Coinglass data, over $56 million in Bitcoin trades alone were liquidated in one hour, impacting over 72,000 traders. The largest single liquidation was a $6 million BTC/USD trade on ByBit exchange.
On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s official Twitter account falsely claimed approval was granted for Bitcoin ETFs on national exchanges.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler later said the account was compromised and no ETFs were approved yet. Bitcoin briefly spiked to $47,800 before retreating to $45,400 as markets digested the fake news.
Additionally, Fox Business reported the SEC may face an internal investigation for potential market manipulation. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas theorized the tweet was real but mistakenly released a day early.
He expects ETF approval on Thursday. The chaotic event demonstrates the massive impact SEC decisions have on crypto markets.
Also Read: SEC Chair Gensler Cautions Crypto Investors Again Amid ETF Decision