Eric Council Jr., a 26-year-old from Huntsville, Alabama, was recently sentenced to 14 months in prison for his involvement in the hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account on Jan. 9, 2024. Along with his co-conspirators, Council Jr. posted false news claiming that the SEC had approved the first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a statement on May 16, 2025, announcing Council Jr.’s sentence, which also includes three years of supervised release. Council Jr. had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud back in February after being arrested by FBI agents in October of the previous year.
The hack took advantage of a court ruling on Aug. 29, 2023, which stated that the SEC was wrong to reject Grayscale’s spot BTC ETF application without proper cause. This ruling raised optimism within the crypto industry, with many anticipating the approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF by the SEC. Council Jr. and his accomplices saw an opportunity to manipulate the market sentiment and announced a fake approval from the SEC’s genuine X account.
Council Jr.’s role in the hack involved carrying out a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swap, where he convinced a mobile carrier to port a victim’s phone number to a SIM card controlled by him. He used an ID card printer to create fake IDs of victims, whose personal data was provided by his co-conspirators. With these fake IDs, Council Jr. gained access to the victim’s number and the SEC’s X account to post the fake news. He received payment in BTC for his participation in the hack.
The consequences of the fake news were significant. The price of BTC initially surged by over $1,000 after the news was posted but plummeted by more than $2,000 per BTC after SEC chair Gary Gensler confirmed the news was fake. This price fluctuation resulted in $50 billion being wiped off Bitcoin’s market capitalization and $220 million in liquidations.
FBI Criminal Investigative Division Acting Assistant Director Darren Cox condemned the hack as a calculated criminal act aimed at deceiving the public and manipulating financial markets. He emphasized that Council Jr.’s actions were intended to erode public trust and exploit the financial system.
In conclusion, Council Jr.’s involvement in the SEC’s X account hack had far-reaching consequences for the crypto market and highlighted the dangers of misinformation and market manipulation. It serves as a reminder of the importance of cybersecurity measures and vigilance in the digital age.