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FBI Arrests Alleged Hacker Behind Fake SEC Bitcoin ETF Tweet
The FBI just made an arrest in one of crypto's biggest market manipulation cases this year.
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A 25-year-old man from Alabama was arrested for his role in hacking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account earlier this year, leading to a fake post about bitcoin ETFs.
What's the scoop?
- Eric Council Jr. was charged with "conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud" after allegedly taking over the SEC's X account in January.
- The hack involved a fake post stating the SEC had approved spot bitcoin ETFs, causing the price of bitcoin to surge before the SEC regained control and deleted the tweet.
- Council allegedly carried out a "SIM swap" to gain access to the account and was paid in bitcoin by unnamed conspirators for the hack.
- The incident occurred just a day before the SEC actually approved the ETFs, which have since drawn billions of dollars in investments.
Bankless take:
Major institutions and their social media accounts are increasingly high-profile targets for hackers. In the crypto space in particular, false information can bring significant volatility to the markets. One well-placed leveraged long or short can easily make huge returns, which was likely the plan of Council’s conspirators. So long as attack vectors like SIM swapping exist, though, blackhats will continue to probe for opportunities to manipulate the crypto market for their personal gain.