5 hours ago
A 26-year-old antheral from Alabama has been sentenced to much than a twelvemonth successful situation for his relation successful a societal media hack that concisely sent the terms of bitcoin BTC soaring.
Eric Council Jr. of Huntsville pleaded blameworthy to charges tied to the January 2024 hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
Posing arsenic a telecom lawsuit utilizing a fraudulent ID, Council utilized a SIM-swap technique to hijack a telephone fig tied to the SEC’s account. His co-conspirators past utilized it to falsely station that the bureau had approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a long-awaited regulatory milestone.
Within minutes, the terms of bitcoin surged by much than $1,000. It crashed soon after, losing much than $2,000 successful worth erstwhile the station was revealed arsenic fake. The SEC did aboriginal that period approve the motorboat of spot bitcoin ETFs.
Authorities accidental Council was paid successful bitcoin for his role. He volition service 14 months successful situation followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Federal prosecutors called the onslaught a calculated effort to manipulate fiscal markets. “The deliberate takeover of a national agency’s authoritative communications level was a calculated transgression enactment meant to deceive the nationalist and manipulate fiscal markets,” said Acting FBI Assistant Director Darren Cox. “By spreading mendacious accusation to power the markets, Council attempted to erode nationalist spot and exploit the fiscal system”
English (US) 