A 25-year-old individual was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his purported involvement in the hacking of the Securities and Exchange Commission's social media account, where a false announcement was made regarding the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds. According to a government press release, Eric Council Jr.
collaborated with co-conspirators to gain control of the account. After accessing the account, he transferred control to his accomplices, who then posted the fabricated tweet.
On January 9, a message on the SEC's social media platform claimed that bitcoin ETFs had been approved for listing on all registered national securities exchanges, resulting in a rapid $1,000 increase in bitcoin's price. However, the cryptocurrency's value subsequently plummeted by $2,000 when the SEC regained control of its account, removed the post, and declared it false.
The following day, the SEC did indeed approve the ETFs. It is reported that Council received a payment of $86,749 in bitcoin for his role in the account takeover.