Paraguay's President Santiago Pena speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Asuncion, Paraguay August 21, 2024. REUTERS/Cesar Olmedo/File Photo
ASUNCION (Reuters) -Paraguay's government on Monday said that President Santiago Pena's X account had likely been hacked after the leader appeared to promote trading of cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
"The president's official X account has presented irregular activity which suggests possible unauthorized entry," the government said in a statement.
A post on Pena's account in English, with a Spanish-language statement purporting to be from the government, had declared that the Latin American country had made Bitcoin legal tender and that it would roll out a $5 million Bitcoin-backed reserve fund.
The government asked citizens to ignore posts from the account until official confirmation was made available.
Paraguay's national cybersecurity team was working with X to investigate the situation, the government added. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Daniela Desantis and Kylie Madry; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle)
