An Alabama man admitted to conspiring with others to hack the SEC's X account and falsely claim approval of bitcoin ETFs, leading to a price surge in bitcoin before being corrected.
An Alabama man pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in the January 2024 hack of the Sec urities and Exchange Commission's X account. Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old resident of Athens, admitted to conspiring with others to gain control of the SEC 's account and falsely claim that the SEC had approved exchange-traded funds for bitcoin. Council's actions led to a spike in the price of bitcoin, which surged by more than $1,000 after the bogus tweet was posted.
The SEC quickly regained control of its account and debunked the claim, causing the price of bitcoin to drop by over $2,000 per bitcoin.According to the Department of Justice, Council used an identification card printer to create a fraudulent identification card with a victim's personally identifiable information obtained from his co-conspirators. He then used this fraudulent card to impersonate the victim and gain access to the victim's cellular phone number. This access allowed Council's co-conspirators to take control of the SEC's account and post the misleading tweet on behalf of the SEC Chairman.Council pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. He faces a maximum possible prison sentence of five years and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16. As part of his guilty plea, Council agreed to forfeit $50,000 to the government, representing the amount he received for his involvement in the hacking scheme.
HACKING SEC BITCOIN CRYPTOCURRENCY FRAUD
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