Bitcoin ETF speculation written into the Bitcoin blockchain paraphrasing Satoshi
In response to speculation that a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will be approved, one Bitcoin user has decided to commemorate the period by writing text into the blockchain. On Jan. 9 at 7:24 pm UTC, a transaction was confirmed with text that read, “SEC Chairman on the brink of second ETF approval.”
The memorialization paraphrases Bitcoin’s pseudonymous inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, who famously inscribed the text “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” into the first Bitcoin block. In both cases, the text was inserted into the OP_RETURN field of the transaction, preserving it for as long as the Bitcoin blockchain exists.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet approved even a single spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF. However, it did approve the first Bitcoin futures ETF in October 2021, which may account for why the author of the Jan. 9 post referred to the “second ETF approval” as being “on the brink” rather than the first. The word “second” could have also been inserted just to make it similar to Satoshi’s original.
Related: Bitcoin ETF approval ‘rehearsal’ favored sell-the-news reaction — Analyst
Just a few hours before the message was posted, the SEC’s X account posted a message stating that all spot Bitcoin ETFs had been approved. The message turned out to be false, with SEC Chair Gary Gensler quickly posting a message contradicting the news and stating that the regulator’s account had been compromised. Three U.S. senators have asked Gensler to provide a report on how the hack was allowed to occur.
