US man who hacked SEC’s X account to spike Bitcoin price sentenced to prison

Eric Council Jr., 26, received a 14-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release for hacking into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account in 2024, allowing him to falsely promote Bitcoin ETFs before their price crashed. His co-conspirators exploited a SIM swap attack to take control of the @SECGov account, enabling them to manipulate online discussions about Bitcoin's legitimacy. The fake announcement fooled investors and media, contributing to the cryptocurrency's dramatic decline after its high.