Alabama man arrested by FBI for alleged SEC hack and bitcoin manipulation

A 25-year-old Alabama man was arrested by the FBI for his alleged connection with the January 2024 unauthorized takeover of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account.

Eric Council Jr. has been accused of posting a fake tweet pretending to be the SEC Chair, causing the value of bitcoin (BTC) to skyrocket by $1,000.

According to the indictment, Council conspired with others in order to carry out a fraudulent SIM Swap attack. 

"As part of this scheme, the co-conspirators...