Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, found itself in a whirlwind of activity on Monday as false reports concerning the approval of BlackRock’s iShares spot Bitcoin ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) swept through the market, ultimately causing turmoil. The misleading information, initially disseminated by Cointelegraph via social media channels, resulted in liquidations exceeding $100 million, as investors rushed to capitalize on the sudden and sharp price surge.
The fabricated news was swiftly debunked by both BlackRock, a mammoth $9 trillion asset manager, and Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terret. BlackRock, a financial powerhouse, explicitly stated that their ETF application was still awaiting SEC approval, a fact that was corroborated by the U.S. SEC’s official website. Furthermore, market sentiment was also swayed by a judicial decision that favored Grayscale’s GBTC to spot ETF conversion, and the anticipation surrounding the GBTC to spot ETF conversion countdown, which was welcomed by traditional investors.
In response to the tumultuous incident, Cointelegraph promptly issued an apology for the inadvertent spread of misinformation and initiated an internal investigation into the matter. The significant repercussions of this false information were evident when examining data provided by Coinglass, which indicated that a staggering $105 million in positions, comprising $73 million in shorts and $32 million in longs, were liquidated within a mere hour.
By late morning on Monday, Bitcoin’s price corrected to $28,192.22, accompanied by a 24-hour trading volume that surged by an impressive 366.20% to reach $24.39 billion. This shift reflected a 4.90% gain within the past 24 hours and a 2.6% increase over the previous seven days. CoinMarketCap data revealed that Bitcoin currently boasts a total circulating supply of 19.52 million tokens, commanding a market cap of $550.69 billion.
Meanwhile, Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF proposal remains under consideration by the SEC, further emphasizing the market’s ongoing response to developments in cryptocurrency regulation and its growing acceptance among traditional investors.
