Top Stories This Week
Spot Bitcoin ETF receives official approval from the SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has officially approved the United States’ first regulated spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. On Jan. 10, the regulator approved applications from ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie, BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton — just one day after a false announcement posted from the SEC’s official Twitter account wreaked havoc on markets. The first day of trading reached more than $4.5 billion in total volume across ten ETFs, with Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as a top performer, handling $2.3 billion in volume on day one.
SEC did not have 2FA enabled: X safety team on fake Bitcoin ETF post
The U.S. SEC did not have two-factor authentication enabled on its main X account, allowing a hacker to gain access to it and publish a false approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to X (formerly Twitter), an unidentified actor gained control of the phone number associated with the account and used that to gain access to the SEC’s official X page. This type of hack is commonly known as a SIM swap. The security breach was followed by requests from senators calling on the SEC to provide a report to Congress within the next few days. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the security incident.
Venezuela’s unlucky petro coin to shut down Jan. 15 after 6 years: Report
Venezuelan national cryptocurrency the Petro will cease to operate on Jan. 15, according to press reports. The coin was created in 2018 to help the country evade United States sanctions but was never widely used. The state-run, oil-backed crypto was launched after the country’s fiat currency, the bolivar, declined sharply under pressure from United States sanctions and after Bitcoin had already gained a firm foothold in the country. The Petro was not a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Central Bank of Venezuela…
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