National Business Wire (Jan 11) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Wednesday.

The move came a day after the SEC's "compromised" official account @SECGov on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) posted about the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, leading to dramatic ups and downs in the price of bitcoin for a short period of time.

An SEC filing shows that the securities regulator approved 11 applications for the listing and trading of a number of spot bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) shares, with issuers such as Fidelity, BlackRock, and VanEck, among others.

The SEC also said it is accelerating approvals for spot bitcoin ETFs, and the first funds are set to begin trading on Thursday.

Perhaps because Tuesday's fake news sapped investor enthusiasm, the SEC approval did not cause significant volatility in the price of bitcoin, which recovered after a brief drop and remained near $46,000.

Some analysts are extremely bullish on bitcoin's future. Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, a New York-based equity research firm, said the price of bitcoin could rise to $500,000 in the next five years, given the limited supply of bitcoin.

Despite the green light, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler remains sceptical about bitcoin. In a statement, he said, "Bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that's also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing."

"While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin," Gensler added. "Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto."