Man Charged in Bitcoin Price Surge Hack by SEC

FBI agents arrested an Alabama man on Thursday for his alleged role in the Jan. 9 hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission's X account that sent the price of Bitcoin The Justice Department said the amount increased by more than $1,000.

The man, Eric Council Jr., 25, is expected to appear later Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.

Prosecutors allege that the council conducted a so-called SIM swap attack to reassign the cell phone number of an individual whose number was linked to the SEC's X account to a subscriber identity module on a phone controlled by the council.

He then allegedly shared the access codes to the X account with co-conspirators, who used them to distribute a fake tweet on behalf of the agency's chairman, Gary Gensler.

The tweet said: “Today the SEC approves #Bitcoin ETFs to list on all registered national securities exchanges.”

Bitcoin price rose by more than $1,000 following the fake tweet.

Shortly thereafter, the SEC regained control of its social media account and announced that the tweet was false and the result of a hack.

“Thereafter, the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000 per Bitcoin,” the DOJ noted.

The hack occurred as the SEC was considering approving exchange-traded funds that held the cryptocurrency.

A day after the hack, the SEC approved rule changes that allowed the creation of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States.

Council, who used the online usernames “Ronin,” “Easymunny,” and “AGiantSchnauzer,” was allegedly paid in Bitcoin by co-conspirators for his role in the hack.

He then allegedly conducted internet searches for terms such as “SECGOV hack,” “Telegram sim swap,” “How can I know for sure if I am under investigation by the FBI,” and “What are the signs that you are under investigation.” “by law enforcement or the FBI, even if you have not been contacted by them,” the DOJ said.