An Alabama man, aged 25, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the January hack of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) social media account, as reported by the Justice Department. The accused, Eric Council Jr. from Athens, is said to have played a part in breaking into the SEC's account on X (formerly Twitter), which led to a significant spike in the price of bitcoin.
The hack involved a false announcement regarding the approval of long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Following the fraudulent post claiming SEC approval for Bitcoin ETFs, the price of bitcoin surged by over $1,000. However, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler quickly clarified on his personal account that the SEC's account had been compromised and that no such approval had been granted.
