In a striking illustration of the cryptocurrency market’s volatility and susceptibility to misinformation, a fraudulent tweet from the compromised X account of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña on June 10, 2025, sparked a significant, albeit temporary, surge in Bitcoin’s value. The fake announcement, which claimed Paraguay had officially adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, propelled BTC upwards by over 4%, reaching a local high of $110,450. This incident highlights the ongoing challenges of digital security and the profound impact of even unsubstantiated claims on fast-moving financial markets.
At approximately 00:53 GMT on June 10, 2025, the verified X (formerly Twitter) account of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña disseminated a tweet that quickly seized the attention of the global crypto community. The now-deleted post falsely asserted that Paraguay had officially approved Bitcoin as legal tender. It further claimed that President Peña had signed legislation establishing a $5 million Bitcoin reserve and providing bond access for crypto-enabled citizens. Notably, the tweet, written in English—an unusual choice for a Spanish-speaking head of state—also included a wallet address, prompting users to “stake BTC.”
The inclusion of a wallet address and a direct call to action immediately raised suspicions among many astute crypto users. Within minutes of the fraudulent post, the official Paraguayan government account, @PresidenciaPy, issued a swift correction. Their statement confirmed that the president’s account had been compromised and unequivocally stated that the information contained in the earlier tweet was false. The deceptive post was rapidly deleted, but by then, the market reaction had already begun to unfold.
This incident occurred amidst a backdrop where Paraguay’s crypto landscape has been marred by criminal activity. In 2024, law enforcement nationwide conducted raids that seized thousands of machines, busting illegal mining farms that were reportedly stealing up to $60,000 in electricity per month. This context of illicit activities, while separate from the fake tweet, underscores some of the challenges and complexities within Paraguay’s burgeoning crypto sector.
Market reaction: A brief but significant spike
The cryptocurrency market, known for its highly speculative nature, often reacts dramatically to even the slightest hint of positive news. The prospect of another sovereign nation adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, following El Salvador’s groundbreaking move in 2021, naturally ignited considerable market enthusiasm. Despite the tweet being a hoax, its immediate impact on Bitcoin’s price was undeniable. Aggregated trading data from major exchanges showed BTC spiking over 4%, reaching an intraday peak of $110,450. This marked one of the highest intraday price jumps observed within that quarter.
The ripple effect extended beyond Bitcoin, temporarily boosting the prices of several other leading cryptocurrencies:
- Ether (ETH) saw a 7% increase.
- Solana (SOL) rose by 5%.
- XRP experienced a 6% jump.
- Cardano (ADA) also climbed by 6%.
It is important to note that this bullish market movement was not solely attributable to the fake Paraguay announcement. A confluence of other significant factors contributed to the overall positive market sentiment. Ongoing trade talks between the United States and China provided a macroeconomic tailwind, benefiting risk assets like cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, simultaneous legislative developments, such as the CLARITY Act—a bipartisan U.S. bill aimed at clarifying regulatory authority over digital assets and assigning primary oversight of crypto markets to the CFTC—had recently passed both the House Agriculture and Financial Services committees around the time of the fake tweet. Additionally, major exchanges like Gemini and Coinbase were reportedly on track to secure MiCA licenses, reinforcing institutional confidence in Europe’s evolving regulatory framework.
The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) posits that asset prices instantly reflect all available information. However, the crypto markets frequently defy this theory, as vividly demonstrated by how a fake tweet from Paraguay could move Bitcoin prices before the truth was fully confirmed, showcasing the market’s vulnerability to unverified news.
History of hacked accounts and crypto scams
The incident involving President Peña’s account is not an isolated event but rather another entry in a growing list of high-profile social media hacks targeting influential figures to manipulate or exploit crypto markets. This recurring pattern underscores a persistent vulnerability in digital communication channels that threat actors continue to exploit.
Notable past incidents include:
- 2020 Twitter Hack: In a massive coordinated cyberattack, the X accounts of prominent figures such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Elon Musk were hijacked. These compromised accounts were used to solicit Bitcoin donations in a classic “giveaway” scam, ultimately collecting over $100,000 before the operation was shut down.
- 2021 Indian Prime Minister’s Account: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s X account was compromised, falsely claiming that Bitcoin had been declared legal tender in India. This incident mirrors the Paraguay hack in its attempt to leverage a political figure’s credibility to spread cryptocurrency-related misinformation.
- 2024 SEC X Account Breach: The official X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was compromised, falsely announcing the approval of a long-anticipated spot Bitcoin ETF. This tweet triggered an immediate and rapid surge in BTC’s price before it was swiftly debunked, once again illustrating the crypto market’s extreme sensitivity to unverified news.
In most of these cases, the primary objective of the attackers is either to execute “pump-and-dump” schemes—where they artificially inflate an asset’s price through false information before selling off their holdings—or to conduct direct scams, luring unsuspecting users into sending Bitcoin or other tokens to fraudulent addresses. In the specific case of the Paraguay incident, the wallet address included in the hacked tweet reportedly contained only $4. This minimal amount suggests that the hack’s primary intent was likely market influence and manipulation rather than direct theft of funds from unsuspecting victims.
