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Alabama Man to Plead Guilty in Bitcoin-Focused SEC X Account Hack

According to the charges, Eric Council Jr. used a fake ID to gain access to a device with SEC account credentials and then falsely said spot bitcoin ETFs had been approved..

By Francisco Rodrigues|Edited by Stephen Alpher

Feb 10, 2025, 6:49 p.m.

The headquarters building of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, May 10, 2010. The chief executive officers of the biggest U.S. stock markets were called to a meeting at the SEC today to discuss last week�s selloff in equities, according to four people familiar with the situation. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images — SEC headquarters (SEC)

What to know:

Eric Council Jr. will plead guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Identity Theft and Access Device Fraud in a case surrounding the SEC's X account hack, according to court documents.
Council agreed to forfeit $50,000 in proceeds from the offenses, which saw the SEC's account falsely claim spot bitcoin ETFs had been approved one day ahead of the actual approval.

Eric Council Jr., the Alabama man charged with hacking the X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to falsely post the agency had approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds, is set to plead guilty in the case.

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A "Consent Order of Forfeiture," filed in D.C. federal court shows Council has agreed to plead guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Identity Theft and Access Device Fraud, and will forfeit $50,000 in proceeds from these offenses.

Council, according to the prosecution, used a fake ID to trick a phone store employee into helping him and co-conspirators access a device with access to the SEC’s X account.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson has set Council's sentencing for May 16. The case stems from the then highly anticipated SEC approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, with the security breach leading to a post shared on the agency’s account one day before the actual approval.

At the time, the approval of these funds was eagerly anticipated as these were widely expected to bring in significant flows from institutional investors. The false X post sent the price of bitcoin briefly surging.

The FBI arrested Council in October for hijacking the SEC’s X account.

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Francisco Rodrigues

Francisco is a reporter for CoinDesk with a passion for cryptocurrencies and personal finance. Before joining CoinDesk he worked at major financial and crypto publications. He owns bitcoin, ether, solana, and PAXG above CoinDesk's $1,000 disclosure threshold.