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

An Alabama man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., in connection with last year's hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account, which was used to falsely claim the agency had officially approved exchange-traded funds for bitcoin.

Eric Council Jr. admitted to conspiring with others who took control of the SEC's X account, according to the Department of Justice.

Council, a 25-year-old resident of Athens, was arrested in October, more than 10 months after the Jan. 9, 2024, hack.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison when he is sentenced on May 16.

Council as part of his guilty plea agreed to forfeit to the government the $50,000 he received for his role in the hacking scheme.

Council, who used the online handles "Ronin," "Easymunny" and "AGiantSchnauzer," allegedly was paid in bitcoin by his unidentified co-conspirators.

Prosecutors said Council executed a so-called SIM swap attack on a person whose cellphone number was linked to the SEC's X account as part of the scheme.

"Council used an identification card printer to create a fraudulent identification card with a victim's personally identifiable information obtained from his co-conspirators," the DOJ said in a press release.

"Council used the fraudulent identification card to impersonate the victim and gain access to the victim's cellular phone number for the purpose of accessing the SEC's account," the DOJ said. "Council's co-conspirators then accessed the account and posted in the name of the SEC Chairman."

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.