Man pleads guilty in hack of SEC’s X account that claimed approval of bitcoin ETFs

Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images

An Alabama man pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court in connection with the January 2024 hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account, which was used to falsely claim that the SEC had approved exchange-traded funds for bitcoin.

The man, 25-year-old Eric Council Jr., admitted to conspiring with others who took control of the SEC’s X account, according to the Department of Justice.

The price of bitcoin spiked by more than $1,000 after the bogus tweet by the hackers on Jan. 9, 2024. The SEC quickly regained control of its X account and announced the tweet was false, sending the price of the cryptocurrency down by more than $2,000 per bitcoin.

The hack occurred when the SEC was considering approving ETFs that contain cryptocurrency. A day after the hack, the agency approved rule changes that allowed the creation of bitcoin ETFs.

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