SIM-Swap Hacker Charged With Manipulating Bitcoin Market

The hack took place on January 9, a day before the SEC’s long-awaited approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

A member of the notorious “Chain Gang” collective of cryptocurrency fraudsters has been charged in connection with a hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission's official X account on January 10, an incident that was designed to manipulate the price of Bitcoin.

According to the indictment, Council, who is also known online as "Ronin," "AGiantSchnauzer" and @Easymunny, accessed the SEC Gov X account through a SIM swap and used it to falsely announce the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

The indictment states that Council and his co-conspirators "obtained access to the @SECGov X account by performing a SIM swap on the cell phone number that was linked to the account."

"A SIM swap attack refers to the process of fraudulently inducing a carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber or user's SIM card to a SIM card, and telephone, controlled by a criminal actor," the indictment says.

"This allows the criminal actor to intercept calls, texts, and other communications that are directed to the victim's cell phone number. Multi-factor authentication that is linked to the victim's cell phone number will be sent to the criminal actor's telephone, allowing the criminal actor to complete the login process."

The @SECGov X account was used to falsely announce the SEC's approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products on January 10.

"Breaking: The SEC has just authorized the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products for the first time in history," the post said.

"This monumental decision comes after years of anticipation and will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the cryptocurrency industry and the broader financial markets."

The post was deleted about 25 minutes after it went up, but that was enough time to move the market. Investors rushed to buy Bitcoin, driving the price up by $1,000, the indictment says. After the correction was posted, the price dropped by $2,000.

Council was paid in Bitcoin for carrying out the SIM swap, according to the indictment. During the investigation, federal agents found that he had used his personal computer to search for "SECGOV hack," "federal identity theft statute" and "how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI."

“In this case, the unauthorized actor allegedly utilized SIM swapping to manipulate the global financial market,” FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Geist said in a statement. “The FBI will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners around the country and globe to hold accountable those who break U.S. laws.”

If convicted, Council faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.