Alabama Man Sentenced for Hacking SEC’s Social Media to Post Fake Bitcoin ETF News

A 26-year-old man from Alabama has been sentenced to greater than a yr in jail for his function in a social media hack that briefly despatched the value of bitcoin

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Eric Council Jr. of Huntsville pleaded responsible to prices tied to the January 2024 hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account, in accordance to a U.S. Department of Justice press launch.

Posing as a telecom buyer utilizing a fraudulent ID, Council used a SIM-swap method to hijack a cellphone quantity tied to the SEC’s account. His co-conspirators then used it to falsely put up that the company had permitted spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a long-awaited regulatory milestone.

Within minutes, the value of bitcoin surged by greater than $1,000. It crashed quickly after, shedding greater than $2,000 in worth as soon as the put up was revealed as pretend. The SEC did later that month approve the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs.

Authorities say Council was paid in bitcoin for his function. He will serve 14 months in jail adopted by three years of supervised launch.

Federal prosecutors referred to as the assault a calculated try to manipulate monetary markets. “The deliberate takeover of a federal agency’s official communications platform was a calculated criminal act meant to deceive the public and manipulate financial markets,” mentioned Acting FBI Assistant Director Darren Cox. “By spreading false information to influence the markets, Council attempted to erode public trust and exploit the financial system”