The
Federal
Bureau
of
Investigation
on
Thursday
said
it
arrested
a
25-year-old
man
for
his
role
in
the
alleged
hack
of
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission’s
X
account
to
falsely
post
the
agency
had
approved
bitcoin
exchange-traded
funds.
Eric
Council
Jr.,
of
Athens,
Alabama,
conspired
with
others
to
take
over
the
X
account,
according
to
a
Thursday
press
release
from
the
U.S.
government.
After
gaining
access
to
the
account,
he
passed
control
off
to
unnamed
co-conspirators
who
issued
the
false
tweet.
On
Jan.
9,
a
post
on
SEC’s
X
declared
“approval
for
#Bitcoin
ETFs
for
listing
on
all
registered
national
securities
exchanges,”
causing
bitcoin
to
quickly
jump
$1,000
in
price.
The
cryptocurrency
then
cratered
$2,000
when
the
SEC
regained
control
of
its
account,
deleted
the
post
and
declared
it
false.
