A 25-year-old Alabama man, Eric Council Jr., was arrested on Thursday in connection with an unauthorized breach of the Security and Exchange Commission’s X (formerly Twitter) account in January. 

This breach caused Bitcoin’s value to increase by $1,000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The incident occurred on January 9th, one day before the SEC was expected to make a decision regarding the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 

According to a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the SEC’s X account was compromised to falsely claim that the approval had been granted. 

Shortly after, SEC Chair Gary Gensler clarified through his personal account that the post was “unauthorized” and that no approval had been given for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The fraudulent post was deleted 25 minutes later, but the brief window was enough to impact the market. 

Investors bought Bitcoin, leading to a $1,000 price surge. Once the misinformation was corrected, Bitcoin’s price dropped by $2,000, according to the indictment.

Council, also known by the online aliases “Ronin,” “AGiantSchnauzer,” and @Easymunny, was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. 

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew M. Graves, announced the charges, which allege that Council participated in the breach to manipulate Bitcoin’s market value.

The indictment explains that Council and unnamed accomplices used a technique called a “SIM swap” to access the SEC’s X account. 

This involves fraudulently convincing a mobile carrier to transfer a phone number from its legitimate owner to a SIM card controlled by the attackers, bypassing multi-factor authentication protections.

By employing this method, the attackers allegedly impersonated someone with access to the SEC’s account by creating fake identification documents in that individual’s name and taking control of their phone number. 

This allowed them to access the @SECGov X account and make unauthorized posts.

Council reportedly received payment in Bitcoin for his role in the SIM swap. 

Investigators later discovered that Council had used his personal computer to search for phrases such as “SECGOV hack,” “federal identity theft statute,” and “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI.”

FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist stated, “in this case, the unauthorized actor allegedly utilized SIM swapping to manipulate the global financial market. The FBI will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners around the country and globe to hold accountable those who break U.S. laws.”

If convicted, Council faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

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