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FBI agents arrested a 25-year-old Alabama man Thursday morning on charges related to the January hack. Securities and Exchange Commissions X account, which resulted in Bitcoin soared over $1,000, Ministry of Justice Announce.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the man, Eric Council Jr., was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. The Athens resident is expected to appear in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama later Thursday.
The commission is accused of conspiring with others to hack the SEC’s accounts and on January 9, sent a false tweet in the name of the agency’s chairman, Gary Gensler, saying “Today the SEC approved the listing of the #Bitcoin ETF on all registered exchanges.” National Stock Exchange.
After the fake tweet was posted, the price of Bitcoin increased by more than $1,000.
Shortly after, the SEC regained control of its social media accounts and announced that the tweet was false and the result of a hack.
The DOJ noted: “Following this corrective disclosure, the value of Bitcoin fell by more than $2,000 per Bitcoin.”
The hack comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission considers whether to approve the sale of exchange-traded funds that hold the cryptocurrency.
One day after the hack, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change allowing the creation of a Bitcoin ETF in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the committee is accused of using so-called SIM swapping schemes to facilitate hacking attacks. SIM swapping involves fraudsters tricking cellular service providers into giving them control of a victim’s phone.
“The indictment alleges that Eric Council, Jr. used misappropriated access to The identity of the person holding the account was used to take over their mobile phone number, thereby illegally accessing the SEC’s account on X.
Argentieri said his “co-conspirators then allegedly used the unauthorized access to X’s account to falsely announce that the SEC had approved the listing of a Bitcoin ETF.”
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