Federal prosecutors are currently considering a plea deal for Eric Council Jr., the individual from Alabama who was recently arrested for hacking the X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to a report by Bloomberg on October 25th, U.S. attorney Kevin Rosenberg mentioned during a hearing with U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson that they are contemplating a plea deal for Council. However, the government is uncertain whether Council will accept the offer.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations apprehended Council, who is 25 years old, last week. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia stated in a press release that Council’s actions, which involved hacking and posting a false message on the SEC’s X account, resulted in a $1,000 spike in the price of Bitcoin as the market responded.
Council, along with others, allegedly used a SIM-swap attack to gain unauthorized access to and take control of the U.S. securities market regulator’s social media account. This incident occurred as the cryptocurrency industry was eagerly anticipating the SEC’s approval of the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds for the U.S. market, during a period of heightened positive sentiment.
Following the SEC’s regaining control of its account and confirming that the earlier announcement was fake and the result of a SIM swap attack, crypto prices experienced a significant drop. Sentiment quickly shifted to negative for Bitcoin as its price plummeted by over $2,000 within minutes.
Subsequently, the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, leading to a surge in the price of Bitcoin to its all-time high of $73,000.
The charges against Council include device fraud and conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft. It is alleged that Council received a payment in Bitcoin from unidentified sources for successfully executing the SIM swap attack.