A post from crypto news outlet Cointelegraph spread rumors about approving a spot Bitcoin ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) in the US. Several top asset managers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but the regulator was yet to decide.
Fake News: Bitcoin ETF Approval Debunked By Experts
As seen in the image below, the crypto news outlet posted about the alleged approval of the iShares Bitcoin ETF filed by asset manager BlackRock. The post had half a million views as of this writing and triggered a spike in volatility in the crypto market a few moments after it went live.
As Cointelegraph posted about the BTC ETF, the cryptocurrency’s price touched $30,000 for the first time in months. However, the experts from Bloomberg Intelligence, Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, stated that the news lacked legitimacy.
The experts debunked the report via their official X accounts, going as far as to call it “fake news.” Minutes after the news went live, Seyffart stated:
I believe this to be fake news. While this would be positive for the things we’ve been saying. I can’t find anything that would confirm this at the moment.
Fox News reporter Eleanor Terret confirmed with BlackRock that the report was fake, and their application continues to be reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On the other hand, Balchunas expects the coming months to see more “fake reports” around the spot Bitcoin ETF approval:
While I expect to wake up one day in next couple months to a headline just like this, this seems a bit ahead of schedule. Trying to confirm source now. Stay tuned.. On one hand the crypto trades have solid rep of breaking big news, on the other they also have rep of taking words and re-ordering them in a more exciting but not accurate way
Despite Balchunas and Seyffart, Cointelegraph has yet to delete the post or issue a clarification. As of this writing, the post has over 2 million views and sparked a crypto community debate.
A popular crypto user asked for “jail” for the team behind the account, while others questioned the crypto news outlet for trying to break the news without a clear source.
Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview