Bitcoin cut its gains and is nearly 3% higher, staying just above the $28,000 level

The price of bitcoin briefly rose 10% on Monday after a false report said that the US SEC had approved the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) from BlackRock.

In a now deleted tweet, crypto-centred news outlet CoinTelegraph had reported about the approval on Twitter.

BlackRock owns and operates the iShares ETF brand.

The price of bitcoin immediately soared 10% to a high of $29,900. But those advances swiftly vanished after a spokesperson for BlackRock told Bloomberg that its spot bitcoin ETF application was still under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CoinTelegraph followed up with a tweet, saying: We apologize for a tweet that led to the circulation of incorrect information regarding the Blackrock Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. An internal probe is presently underway.

Bitcoin cut its gains and is nearly 3% higher, staying just above the $28,000 level.

The volatility spike in bitcoin on Monday underlines the hope investors have been holding onto for the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

While the SEC has approved bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds, it has repeatedly rejected and delayed bitcoin spot ETF applications over the past few years, but hope has been renewed after big asset management companies such as BlackRock and Fidelity came up with their own bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications.

Hope for a bitcoin spot ETF also soared after Grayscale Investments won a court appeal, which said that the SEC’s decision to decline an application from Grayscale to convert its bitcoin trust fund into a spot bitcoin ETF was wrong.

A recent Reuters report said that the Securities and Exchange Commission would not appeal that decision, lending some hope to investors that a spot bitcoin ETF could be impending, including Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood.