A 25-year-old Alabama man has been arrested for allegedly hacking into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account to make an announcement that led to a spike in the price of bitcoin, the Justice Department said.
Eric Council Jr. of Athens is accused of conspiring with others in January to break into the SEC's account to prematurely announce in the name of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler that bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds have been approved - a decision that had been anticipated for months.
The price of bitcoin surged to more than $1,000 immediately following the posting.
"Shortly after this unauthorized post, the SEC regained control over its X account and confirmed that the announcement was unauthorized and the result of a security breach. Following this corrective disclosure, the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000 per bitcoin," the Justice Department said Thursday.
Council and his accomplices managed to gain control of the X account through the use of a "SIM swap" - using a fake ID to convince a cell phone carrier to give them a SIM card linked to Gensler's phone.
After gaining access to the SIM card and phone, Council, who went by online monikers "Ronin" and "@Easymunny," and his associates gathered the device codes to gain access to Gensler's social media accounts.
"Co-conspirators used this unauthorized access to change social media account settings and transmit a fraudulent post in the name of the SEC Chairman," the indictment says.
After issuing the fraudulent message, Council returned to the cellphone story to return the phone for cash, court documents alleged.
"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," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said in a statement.
Council was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if found guilty.
