US FBI, SEC join probe of fake social media post from regulator

By Chris Prentice and Douglas Gillison

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities including the Federal Bureau of Investigation are probing a fake post made on the Securities and Exchange Commission's account on X, an SEC spokesperson said on Wednesday after the incident roiled the already volatile bitcoin market.

The fake post on Tuesday said the SEC had approved trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sending industry executives scrambling. Bitcoin prices have whipsawed in recent days as expectations mounted the agency was poised to allow trading of the products.

The SEC quickly disavowed and deleted the post and X, formerly Twitter, later said the account was compromised because of an "unidentified individual" obtaining control of a phone number.

The SEC is coordinating with law enforcement entities including the FBI and the SEC's inspector general on an investigation into a fake post on its X social media account on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the agency said in an emailed statement.

Someone gained unauthorized access to the SEC's account for a "brief period of time shortly after 4 p.m. ET" on Tuesday, the agency spokesperson previously said.

In Wednesday's statement, the spokesperson noted: "The unauthorized content on the @SECGov account was not drafted or created by the SEC."

Lawmakers have seized on the incident, with top Senate Banking Committee Republican Tim Scott saying he was seeking information from the agency and its Office of Inspector General. Fellow Republican committee members JD Vance and Thom Tillis on Tuesday called on the SEC to brief their staff.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice and Douglas Gillison; Editing by Mark Porter and Bill Berkrot)