FBI arrests alleged hacker behind fake SEC bitcoin ETF X post

An arrest was made in connection to the fake bitcoin ETF approval posts sent out from the SEC’s account back in January

article-image

Michele Ursi/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of the man allegedly behind the fake bitcoin ETF approval posts sent from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s account back in January. 

The FBI arrested Eric Council Jr. of Alabama. He’s being charged with conspiracy to commit identity theft, and access device fraud, per a press statement.

“The indictment alleges that Eric Council, Jr. unlawfully accessed the SEC’s account on X by using the stolen identity of a person who had access to the account to take over their cellphone number,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri.

Council allegedly conspired with other people to create and post the tweets on the SEC’s account. 

“Council, Jr.’s co-conspirators then allegedly used this unauthorized access to the X account to falsely announce that the SEC had approved listing Bitcoin ETFs, which caused the price of Bitcoin to rise by $1,000 and then fall by $2,000. Council’s indictment underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to countering cybercrime, especially when it threatens the integrity of financial markets,” Argentieri said.

The posts, which announced the approval of the spot bitcoin ETFs though the products had not officially been approved by the Commission, were sent out just days before the SEC formally approved the spot bitcoin products. 

The posts triggered a spike in bitcoin’s price.

Following the SIM swap, Council bought a new phone and used it to access the SEC’s X account. 

“Council received BTC payment for performing the successful SIM swap. Shortly after, Council drove to Birmingham, Alabama to return the iPhone used in the SIM swap for cash,” the FBI said.

Council is set to appear in an Alabama court later Thursday.

“The SEC thanks law enforcement for their vigilance in seeking accountability for those responsible for the breach of the SEC’s X account,” a spokesperson for the SEC told Blockworks.

Updated Oct. 17, 2024 at 3:05 pm ET: Added comment from SEC spokesperson.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

kamino cover.jpg

Research

Kamino has solidified its position as the leading money market on Solana and is emerging as a DeFi bluechip. Although DeFi competition is fierce, Kamino has kept iterating on its product to provide the best-in-class UX, paired with a robust risk management framework and battle-tested infrastructure. Given the rollout of Kamino Lend V2, the protocol may scale aggressively over the coming months, penetrating previously untapped markets in Solana DeFi.

article-image

MSTR’s stock price was roughly $248 at 2 pm ET Thursday

article-image

Ever since rates came off zero and fiscal deficits exploded, markets have started paying close attention to how the government is funding itself

article-image

Solana memecoins are collectively at an all-time high

article-image

Optimistic rollups like Optimism, Arbitrum and Base are seeing rapid adoption relative to zk rollups

article-image

Coinbase’s final total for Q3: $331 billion, the equivalent of 15% of the total crypto market cap at the time

article-image

T. Rowe Price’s technology ETF invests in companies across the hardware, software, internet and payments segments