WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alabama resident was taken into custody on Thursday for his alleged involvement in the January hacking of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) social media account, which triggered a surge in bitcoin prices, according to the Justice Department.
Eric Council Jr., 25, from Athens, is accused of assisting in the breach of the SEC’s account on X, previously known as Twitter, enabling the hackers to falsely announce the approval of highly anticipated bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
The announcement caused the price of bitcoin to briefly climb over $1,000 after it proclaimed, “The SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.”
However, shortly after the unauthorized post surfaced, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated on his personal account that the SEC’s account had been compromised. “The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” Gensler clarified in his tweet, labeling the statement as unauthorized, without offering additional details.
Officials report that Council executed what is known as a “SIM swap,” utilizing a counterfeit ID to impersonate an individual with access to the SEC’s X account, persuading a mobile phone retailer to issue him a SIM card linked to that person’s phone. This allowed Council to seize control of the individual’s cellphone number and obtain access codes to the SEC’s X account, which he shared with others who subsequently breached the account and published the post, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors noted that after Council returned the iPhone utilized for the SIM swap, his online searches included inquiries like: “What are the signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI even if you have not been contacted by them?”
An email was dispatched on Thursday to Council’s attorney seeking comments. He faces charges in Washington’s federal court for conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
The price of bitcoin fluctuated from approximately $46,730 to just under $48,000 following the unauthorized post on January 9, before plummeting to around $45,200 after the SEC’s denial. The SEC officially approved the first bitcoin-holding exchange-traded funds the subsequent day.
