FBI Arrests Alabama Man Allegedly Hacking SEC Account X to Prematurely Announce Bitcoin ETF Approval BTC)

THE Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested an Alabama resident for allegedly hacking the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)on’s social media account X earlier this year.

What happened: The FBI apprehended Eric Conseil Jr. Thursday, accusing him of conspiring with others to gain unauthorized access to the SEC’s X account in January.

The Board would have used the name of the chairman of the SEC Gary Gensler falsely announce the approval of a Bitcoin BTC/USD exchange-traded fund (ETF).

This false announcement caused the price of Bitcoin to rise by more than $1,000 before plummeting by more than $2,000 after the SEC took back control and called the announcement a security breach. The SEC had not then implemented multi-factor authentication for its profile.

See also: Anthony Scaramucci explains what percentage of his wealth is tied to Bitcoin: “I haven’t sold any. Thank goodness, touch wood! »

Council is accused of carrying out the hack via an unauthorized SIM swap, tricking a mobile operator into reassigning a phone number to a SIM card it controlled. This allowed him to access social media accounts linked to the number and post the premature Bitcoin ETF announcement.

FBI Criminal Investigation Division Deputy Director Chad Yarbrough said, “The defendant allegedly misled the public by impersonating the victim and making fraudulent statements on behalf of the SEC. »

Council faces charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, which carry a potential sentence of five years in prison.

Why it matters: The incident highlights the security vulnerabilities of social media accounts, especially for high-profile organizations.

In January, the SEC confirmed that its official Twitter The account (now X) was compromised, leading to a fake tweet about Bitcoin ETF approvals.

This unauthorized publication caused significant market disruption, with over $220 million liquidated and over 70,000 traders affected.

The SEC, in conjunction with the FBI, launched an investigation into the hack, emphasizing that the unauthorized content was not created by the SEC.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced using AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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