The price of bitcoin surged to nearly $30,000 Monday morning after what seems to be a false rumor that the Securities and Exchange Commission approved BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF application started circulating on the social media platform X.
BlackRock told The Wall Street Journal there hadn’t been a decision on its ETF application. “The iShares Spot Bitcoin ETF application is still under review by the SEC,” said a BlackRock spokesperson.
Crypto news site Cointelegraph first posted the rumor on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter which prompted a frenzy of purchases, bitcoin surged 10% higher early Monday following the tweet.
The erroneous news followed an actual news report on Friday that the SEC won’t appeal a court ruling which could pave the way for Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF.
BlackRock quickly denied the report on its Bitcoin spot ETF, saying its application is still under SEC review.
Bitcoin prices climbed to nearly $30,000 on the erroneous report before coming back down to $28,000.
Late Friday, Bloomberg News reported that the SEC has opted not to seek a review from a federal appeals court regarding the decision that clears the path for Grayscale Investments LLC to introduce a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund focused on spot prices, citing a person familiar with the situation.
In August, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the SEC’s refusal to allow Grayscale to transform its trust into an exchange-traded fund. This decision came from only three judges on the court, and the regulatory authority had the option to request a review by the entire panel of judges. The individual, who preferred to remain anonymous while discussing this ongoing issue, indicated that the agency has no intention of pursuing any further appeals in this case.
