Bitcoin spikes above $110K after account of Paraguay's president claims BTC legal tender
- Paraguayan President Santiago Peña's X account was reportedly hacked on Monday.
- A now-deleted post falsely claimed that Paraguay had made Bitcoin a legal tender, backed by a $5 million BTC reserve.
- Bitcoin surged over $110,000 following the X post and progress in US-China tariff talks.
Bitcoin (BTC) rose 4% on Monday following a post from Paraguayan President Santiago Peña's hacked X account stating that BTC has been approved as a legal tender in the country. The post was deleted after Presidencia Paraguay flagged the information as false.
Bitcoin gains amid suspicious X post from Paraguayan President
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña's X account was hacked on Monday, according to a notice from the official account of the presidency.
The notice follows a suspicious post on Peña's account, which stated that Bitcoin had been approved as a "legal tender" in the country. The post also mentioned that the President approved a $5 million Bitcoin reserve, along with "bond access for crypto-enabled citizens." The message, written in English, asked investors to "secure your stake in Bitcoin now" and included a wallet address.
The information was flagged minutes later by the Presidencia Paraguay account, after which the post was deleted. Notably, there have been no reports of losses incurred by investors from the post, although crypto community members suggested that the wallet address used contained only $4.
This is not the first time that a public figure's X account has been hacked in an attempt to scam followers through Bitcoin. Former US Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama faced similar hacks involving Bitcoin in 2020, with over $100,000 stolen from their supporters at the time.
Bitcoin marked gains of 4% on the day, rising above $110,000 amid the announcement. The positive performance follows a meeting held in London between US delegates, led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Chinese representatives headed by Vice Premier He Lifeng.
The two sides met to discuss tariffs following a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. The conversation between both representatives will likely continue on Tuesday.
Top crypto tokens also saw narrow gains following the announcement, including Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP and Cardano (ADA), rising 7%, 5%, 6% and 6%, respectively.
Author
Michael Ebiekutan
FXStreet
With a deep passion for web3 technology, he's collaborated with industry-leading brands like Mara, ITAK, and FXStreet in delivering groundbreaking reports on web3's transformative potential across diverse sectors. In addi
