Bitcoin Surges, Then Falls Thanks to a Bogus Tweet

The world maybe didn't need another example of the volatility of cryptocurrency, but it got one anyway on Monday. The price of bitcoin jumped about 10% to nearly $30,000 in a matter of minutes, all thanks to a bogus news report, reports Insider. The price then quickly shed those gains just as quickly when the truth emerged. It seems that the outlet CoinTelegraph errantly tweeted that the US Securities and Exchange Commission had approved a request by asset manager BlackRock to create the first-ever spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, per MarketWatch.

"We apologize for a tweet that led to the dissemination of inaccurate information regarding the Blackrock Bitcoin ETF," Cointelegraph later tweeted on X. "An internal investigation is currently underway." A Blackrock spokesperson confirmed that the ETF request remains under SEC review. Quartz explains that approval would be a "watershed" moment in the crypto universe in regard to mainstream acceptance, adding that it may just be a matter of time. One Bloomberg analyst predicts the first bitcoin ETF will be trading by early January. As of Tuesday morning, bitcoin was trading a bit above $28,000. (More bitcoin stories.)