An Alabama man who pumped the price of Bitcoin after hacking the X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and falsely announcing the approval of spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) was sentenced on Friday to 14 months behind bars. The false X post sent the price of Bitcoin briefly surging at the time. SEC Hacker Jailed Eric Council Jr., a resident of Athens, Alabama, got unauthorized access to the SEC’s Twitter (aka X) account in early January 2024 and tweeted a bogus statement about the greenlighting of Bitcoin ETFs that briefly spiked the price of the bellwether crypto by over $1,000 within minutes. Prosecutors claimed that the 26-year-old conspired with others to take control of the account and post, “Today the SEC grants approval for Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” Bitcoin, however, fell by over $2,000 shortly after former SEC chairman Gary Gensler confirmed that the tweet was false and that the agency’s account was compromised. Under a search warrant, the Federal Bureau of Investigation found a laptop where Council lived that contained internet searches for phrases like, “How can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI?” and “What are some signs that the FBI is after you?” Ironically, the SEC ended up greenlighting the first batch of spot Bitcoin ETFs just a day after the hack, allowing the highly-awaited products to be traded in the United States. Council was eventually arrested in October 2024. In February, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. In a statement, interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro said Council’s actions hurt the integrity of the markets. Pirro was tapped by President Donald Trump last week to head that office in D.C. “Schemes of this nature threaten the health and integrity of our market system,” Pirro posited. “SIM swap schemes threaten the financial security of average citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t be caught. You will be caught, prosecuted, and will pay the price for the damage your actions create.” In addition to Council’s prison term, he was ordered to forfeit $50,000 in proceeds from his offenses and will serve 36 months of supervised release, with restrictions on accessing the dark web and participating in identity-related crimes.
