Crypto media platform Cointelegraph has provided clarification on how the false Spot Bitcoin ETF approval news, which was released on its Twitter and Telegram platforms, came about. Although now deleted, the post caused a stir in the crypto community and crypto market by extension. 

Events Leading Up To Cointelegraph’s Post

According to a post released on its website, Cointelegraph stated that the news lead originated from “an unconfirmed screenshot posted by an X user who claimed it was from the Bloomberg Terminal.” The post further contained details of how the team got wind of the rumored news through a Telegram channel, which they usually get developing stories. 

Upon getting wind of this rumor, one of the platform’s employees reposted it in an internal Slack channel. However, without confirming the authenticity of the news, another employee went on to publish the development on their X and Telegram platform. This was reportedly done without getting the required editorial approval. 

The post simply stated that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved iShares Bitcoin Spot ETF. This Bitcoin Spot ETF in question happens to be the one that asset manager BlackRock plans to offer if approved by the SEC.

Following Cointelegraph’s post, many, including Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, questioned the veracity of the news. While this was ongoing, the employee who initially shared the post in the Slack channel noted that the source could not be found as the telegram account that posted it seems to have been deleted. 

This led to another employee editing the X and Telegram posts to include the word “reportedly” at the end of the post. The posts were eventually deleted after the news platform got confirmation from BlackRock that the report was incorrect while issuing a statement confirming that the information was inaccurate. 

Liquidations And Conspiracy Theories

It is worth mentioning that BTC hit $30,000 following Cointelegraph’s post, with such news usually signaling a bullish narrative. However, considering the circumstances surrounding the post, many traders in the crypto community made their frustrations known as the news led to almost $100 million in Bitcoins positions and over $157 million in crypto positions being liquidated in a 24-hour period, according to data from Coinglass.

Most of those affected were traders who had taken short positions, betting against an increase in Bitcoin’s price. Following the surge in Bitcoin’s price, over $71 million in short positions were wiped out instantly. 

Cointelegraph’s post also sparked some conspiracy theories, with some suggesting that the news platform was probably paid (or on their volition) to manipulate the market.

Online crypto casino Rollbit posted a screenshot of a trade that seemed to have been placed by someone at the media outlet. The screenshot showed that the trader had placed a long trade on BTC around the time when the false Spot Bitcoin ETF approval post was made. The said trader made over $2 million from the trade. However, this has not been confirmed to be true.