Hacker Pleads Guilty To SEC's Fake Bitcoin ETF Post On X That Triggered Financial Wipeout Worth Millions

An Alabama resident on Monday confessed to hacking the SEC’s X account and posting a fake Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) exchange-traded fund approval message, causing millions of dollars in market losses.

What Happened: Eric Council pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft in a federal court in Washington, D.C., according to a Justice Department press release.

He now faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and potentially three years of supervised release. The sentencing is slated for May.

According to court records, the Council had been involved in a conspiracy to execute Subscriber Identity Model attacks, also known as “SIM swaps,” for monetary gain. He executed a SIM swap of the mobile phone account associated with the SEC’s official X account to gain unauthorized access.

See Also: Man Whose $775 Million Bitcoin Fortune Lies Buried In A Landfill Now Wants To Buy The Trash Heap

Why It Matters:  The incident pertained to a hacked post from the SEC that led to a financial wipeout for thousands of traders.

The market soared on the fake announcement of a spot Bitcoin ETF, only to plummet minutes later when reality set in. Over $220 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the ensuing chaos. The ETFs were formally approved a day later.

Council was arrested by the FBI in October and was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.

Photo by ozrimoz on Shutterstock

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.