Bitcoin Jumps to $30K, Then Dumps, as False Spot ETF Approval Report Circulates

Bitcoin (BTC) surged from $27,900 to $30,000 after a false report of a spot ETF approval was posted on social app X, formerly Twitter, leading to nearly $100 million in liquidations in the past hour.

The false post was deleted after nearly 30 minutes but sparked enough interactions to impact prices significantly. Bitcoin has since fallen from $30,000 to $28,000 following skepticism from analysts and reporters. BlackRock confirmed to CoinDesk that the report is false.

CoinGlass data shows that $81 million worth of short positions, or bets against higher prices, were liquidated on the move to $30,000, and $31 million in longs, or bets on higher prices, were liquidated during the correction. Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. It happens when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position (fails to have sufficient funds to keep the trade open).

The SEC website shows no approvals for a spot bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg also reported that the BlackRock application is still under review.

It was reported last week that the SEC won't appeal the loss in its case against Grayscale, which is thought to boost the chances of GBTC eventually being converted to a spot ETF. Bitcoin rose 4% in Asian morning hours on Monday, a continuation of Friday’s reaction to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision to not appeal to a recent Grayscale ruling.

Grayscale is a sister company of CoinDesk.

UPDATE (October 16, 2:23 UTC): Adds details throughout.