Alabama man arrested in hack of SEC social media account that sent Bitcoin price soaring

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alabama man was arrested Thursday for his alleged role in the January hack of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission social media account that sent the price of bitcoin soaring, announced the Ministry of Justice.

Eric Council Jr., 25, of Athens, is accused of helping to hack the SEC’s account of X, formerly known as Twitter, allowing the hackers to prematurely announce approval of funds traded in long-awaited Bitcoin exchange.

The price of Bitcoin briefly soared over $1,000 after the post claimed that “SEC approves #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” »

But shortly after the initial post appeared, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler posted on his personal account that the SEC account had been compromised. “The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded products,” Gensler wrote, calling the post authorized without providing further explanation.

Authorities say the Board conducted what is known as a “SIM swap,” using a fake ID to impersonate someone with access to the SEC’s X account and convince a mobile phone store to give them a SIM card linked to the person’s phone. The Council was able to recover the person’s cell phone number and obtain access codes to the SEC’s X account, which he shared with others who accessed the account and sent the message, the council said. Ministry of Justice.

Prosecutors said that after the Council returned the iPhone he had used for the SIM swap, his online searches included: “What are the signs that you are being scammed?” investigation by law enforcement or the FBI, even if you have not been contacted by them.”

An email seeking comment was sent Thursday to an attorney for the Council, who is charged in Washington federal court with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.

The price of bitcoin fell from around $46,730 to just under $48,000 after the unauthorized release on January 9, then fell to around $45,200 after the SEC’s denial. The next day, the SEC officially approved the first exchange-traded funds holding bitcoin.