The SEC's approval of the spot ETF is a blunder, as Bitcoin plunged after surging over $2,000 in just half an hour.

Due to a misunderstanding regarding the approval of a spot ETF, the price of Bitcoin experienced significant fluctuations in trading on Monday. On October 16th, before the opening of the US stock market, Cointelegraph, a well-known media outlet in the cryptocurrency field, posted a major announcement on Twitter: the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF by BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm. Although the news had not been confirmed, the price of Bitcoin reacted swiftly. In less than half an hour, it surged from below $28,000 to above $30,000, breaking the $30,000 mark for the first time in three months. This represented an increase of over $3,000, or more than 10%, from the intraday low of $27,000 in the Asian market. However, after the US stock market opened, a journalist from the mainstream media outlet Fox News posted a message stating that BlackRock had confirmed that the news published by Cointelegraph was false, and that their application was still under evaluation by the SEC. Cointelegraph subsequently edited their previous post, adding the phrase "according to reports" to the content of the major announcement. As a result, the price of Bitcoin quickly plummeted. Within half an hour, it fell below $28,000 after briefly surpassing $30,000, experiencing a drop of over $2,000, or more than 7%. Although it later rebounded to above $28,000, its 24-hour gain narrowed to less than 5%. Cointelegraph later issued an apology, stating that their post had disseminated inaccurate information regarding BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF and that they were currently conducting an internal investigation. They emphasized their commitment to transparency and pledged to share the investigation results with the public within three hours of its completion. If the SEC does approve BlackRock's ETF, it will be a significant breakthrough after the US court cleared the way for Bitcoin spot ETF listing in late August. At that time, analysts pointed out that this could pave the way for the first spot Bitcoin ETF to be listed, and BlackRock and another Wall Street giant, Fidelity, were the most likely to be approved, which would lead to more mainstream institutions embracing crypto assets. If the Bitcoin spot ETF is approved, it could be a turning point for the cryptocurrency industry, as it could attract billions of dollars in investment from ordinary investors. On Monday, the trading price of GBTC also surged, with the discount between GBTC and Bitcoin narrowing to about 14% at the beginning of the US stock market, the largest discount since 2021, when it was close to 50%. Since the beginning of this year, GBTC has risen by more than 160%, outperforming Bitcoin, which has risen by over 70% this year. Last Friday, the SEC declined to appeal the August court ruling. Subsequently, some media outlets pointed out that the significant narrowing of the discount between GBTC and Bitcoin in recent weeks was due to the expectation of many analysts closely following the progress of GBTC's conversion to a Bitcoin spot ETF that the SEC will soon approve the conversion application. Analysts have recently released reports stating that given the court's ruling in late August, the number of recent applications for Bitcoin spot ETFs, and the contact between the SEC and the applicants, it seems inevitable that the Bitcoin spot ETF will be approved at this time. They also believe that the market is on the verge of releasing billions of dollars in value.