An Alabama man admitted Monday to taking part in a January 2024 hack of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission social media account designed to manipulate the price of bitcoin.
Eric Council Jr., 25, pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge in U.S. District Court in Washington, court records show. His sentencing is set for May.
Council was arrested in October and charged with helping to break into the SEC’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, allowing unnamed co-conspirators to falsely announce the approval of long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded funds, prosecutors said.
The price of bitcoin briefly spiked by more than $1,000 after the hacked account posted: “The SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.”
Soon after the initial post appeared, then-SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on his personal account that the SEC’s account was compromised. The price of bitcoin swung from about $46,730 to just below $48,000 after the unauthorized post hit on Jan. 9 and then dropped to around $45,200 after the SEC’s denial. The SEC officially approved the first exchange-traded funds that hold bitcoin the following day. Bitcoin has recently been trading around $100,000.
Council carried out what’s known as a “SIM swap,” using a fake ID to impersonate someone with access to the SEC’s X account and convince a cellphone store to give him a SIM card linked to the person’s phone, prosecutors said. Council was able to take over the person’s cellphone number and get access codes to the SEC’s X account, which he shared with others who broke into the account and sent the post, the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors said Council received payment from his co-conspirators in bitcoin and made about $50,000 as part of the scheme. Before his arrest, prosecutors said Council’s internet search history included “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI” and “federal identity theft statute.”