Feds make arrest in SEC's spot bitcoin Twitter hack

Eric Council was arrested on Thursday for allegedly hacking the regulatory body’s X (formerly Twitter) account in the January leadup to the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs

Eric Council Jr., 25, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly hacking the SEC’s X (formerly Twitter) account in January and falsely posting that the regulatory agency had granted highly anticipated approval for spot bitcoin ETFs.

The post, federal authorities say, sent the price of bitcoin spiraling upwards by more than $1,000. The problem, however, was that the SEC was yet to approve the applications.

Council has been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud for the alleged hack, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

According to the DOJ, Council and an unidentified co-conspirator planned to hack the SEC’s X account and falsely announce the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, which would lead to a rise in bitcoin prices and, subsequently, profits for the duo.

The pair allegedly obtained login credentials for the SEC’s X account from an unnamed third party and used them to access the account on January 12. They then posted a message stating that the SEC had approved spot bitcoin ETFs, an announcement that was quickly picked up by several news outlets.

The price of bitcoin rose sharply following the post, reaching a high of nearly $24,000 on January 13. However, the SEC later clarified that it had not approved any spot bitcoin ETFs, and the price of the cryptocurrency began to decline.

By January 16, the price of bitcoin had fallen to around $22,000, a loss of more than $1,000 from the peak price reached following the SEC’s X account hack.

The DOJ said that Council’s alleged actions caused “substantial losses to others,” but did not specify the exact amount of the losses.

Council faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft charge and seven years for the access device fraud charge. He is scheduled to appear in court again on March 20.