FBI agents arrested a 25-year-old Alabama man on Thursday for his alleged role within the Jan. 9 hacking of the U.S. Secret Service constructing Securities and Exchange Commission's X account that sent the prize Bitcoin rose by greater than $1,000 Ministry of Justice announced.
The man, Eric Council Jr., was held without bail after appearing later Thursday in U.S. District Court in Huntsville, Alabama, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, in keeping with the clerk's office.
Prosecutors allege that the Athenian carried out a so-called SIM swap attack to map the cellphone variety of an individual whose number was linked to the SEC's X account to a subscriber identity module on a phone controlled by the council.
He then allegedly passed access codes to the X account to co-conspirators, who used them to spread a fake tweet within the name of the agency's chairman, Gary Gensler.
The tweet said: “Today the SEC approves #Bitcoin ETFs to list on all registered national securities exchanges.”
Bitcoin price rose by greater than $1,000 following the fake tweet.
Shortly thereafter, the SEC regained control of its social media account and announced that the tweet was false and the results of a hack.
“Thereafter, the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000 per Bitcoin,” the DOJ noted.
The hack occurred because the SEC was considering approving exchange-traded funds that held the cryptocurrency.
A day after the hack, the SEC approved rule changes that allowed the creation of Bitcoin ETFs within the United States.
Council, who used the net usernames “Ronin,” “Easymunny,” and “AGiantSchnauzer,” was allegedly paid in Bitcoin by co-conspirators for his role within the hack.
He then allegedly conducted web searches for terms reminiscent of “SECGOV hack,” “Telegram sim swap,” “How can I know for sure if I am under investigation by the FBI,” and “What are the signs that you are under investigation.” “by law enforcement or the FBI, even if you have not been contacted by them,” the DOJ said.
Council is next due in court in Huntsville on Tuesday for a detention hearing.
His case is being heard in federal court in Washington, DC, where a grand jury indicted him.
CNBC has reached out to the Federal Public Defender's Office, which was set to represent the council within the case, for comment.
Council's mother, Kimberly Council, told CNBC in an interview that she was surprised by the news of her son's arrest.
“My son has never had any problems,” said Kimberly Council, who lives in Huntsville. “He never even remotely thought about his academic experiences in school.”
She said she hadn't spoken to Eric since his arrest and didn't know if he had hired a lawyer for his criminal case.
Kimberly said Eric shouldn’t be currently employed, but prior to now he has made a living through app-based food deliveries.
“I’m overwhelmed, as you can imagine,” Kimberly said of his arrest.
“I love my son. He is a special person. He has always been unique. I just hope he can handle it.”
“I’m just trying to figure out what’s really going on.”
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