Hacked SEC Tweet Sends Bitcoin Prices Wild

Imagine someone sending a fake tweet that makes Bitcoin prices shoot up by over $1, 000 in an instant. That's what happened when a 25-year-old Alabama resident named Eric Council Jr. hacked into the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Twitter account. He posed as the SEC Chair Gary Gensler and tweeted that Bitcoin ETFs were approved. This single tweet caused a massive stir in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin prices quickly surging. The SEC later confirmed that the account was hacked, and the price of Bitcoin plunged by more than $2, 000. This whole ordeal sparked a lot of interest in cryptocurrency investors who were eagerly waiting for the SEC to approve Bitcoin ETFs. Right after the fake tweet, the SEC officially approved Bitcoin-related assets for exchange-traded funds the next day.

So, how did Council Jr. pull off this hack? It was through a method called SIM swapping. He impersonated someone to get their SIM details and then used that information to obtain a fake ID and a SIM card linked to the victim's phone line. After gaining access to the SEC's Twitter account, he shared it with his co-conspirators and sent out the fake tweet. The FBI arrested Council Jr. and charged him with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. Interestingly, after the hack, Council Jr. searched for information online about being investigated by the FBI, which certainly indicates his concern over the situation.

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