New Delhi, Dec 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter handle was briefly hacked on Sunday, and a tweet claiming that India has "officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender" was put out from it.

The Prime Minister's Office later said the account was immediately secured after the matter was escalated to Twitter.

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"The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured. In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored," it said.

The tweet, after Modi's personal handle was hacked, also claimed that India has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them among its residents and shared a link, asking people to hurry up.

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The future has come today, it said.

Many users immediately pointed out that the account seems to have been hacked.

India, it may be noted, has taken a tough stand on cryptocurrencies.

The government is likely to introduce a bill on cryptocurrencies and has expressed concerns that they may be used for luring investors with misleading claims and for funding terror activities.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)