The hacker who posted a fake Bitcoin ETF approval update through the US SEC’s account has pleaded guilty.
By Godfrey Benjamin
Edited by Marco T. Lanz
Updated
3 mins read
Eric Council Jr. has pleaded guilty to hacking the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) social media account over a year ago regarding Bitcoin ETF approval.
With access to the SEC’s account, the 25-year-old Alabama man and his allies posted a fake announcement about the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Noteworthy, he used a fake ID to access a device with SEC’s account credentials.
According to a filing in the US District Court of the District of Columbia, Council was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
However, his lawyers have pleaded guilty to the offense and filed a “Consent Order of Forfeiture.” Council must forfeit up to $50,000, believed to be proceeds from his illicit activity.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson has set Council’s sentencing for May 16.
Council’s fake post was made just a day before the securities regulator officially approved the much-anticipated offering at the time. Interestingly, the announcement triggered a massive rally in the price of BTC $82 676 24h volatility: 1.0% Market cap: $1.64 T Vol. 24h: $24.81 B , as the coin gained more than $1,000 in less than 24 hours.
It was easy for the hackers to get the crypto community’s attention at the time because of the anticipation surrounding the fund.
“Today the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges,” the hackers claimed, just before the SEC debunked the news, citing that its account had been compromised.
Council was later arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in October.
On the other hand, the spot Bitcoin ETFs that the SEC approved in January have been thriving by different metrics.
In the first week of 2025, SoSoValue data identified that a notable amount of capital made its way into Bitcoin spot ETFs. The funds added a net $245 million during this time, thanks to Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB).
Recently, BlackRock‘s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) scooped 1,478 BTC worth approximately $155 million.
This purchase took its weekly purchases to more than 11,000 BTC. In addition, IBIT clocked the highest-ever daily trading volume, totaling $6.8 billion. The surge in activity reflects investors’ growing interest in the Bitcoin ETFs.
As a result, asset managers are trying to meet this growing demand and are coming up with more crypto-based ETFs.
Calamos Investments launched the “Protected Bitcoin ETF,” a fund that guarantees 100% money back if Bitcoin falls by 50%. The ETF also caps potential gains, limiting them to a maximum of 11.5%.
Meanwhile, there are already filings for Solana and XRP ETFs from VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Capital, and Bitwise.
More recently, the popular stock exchange market Nasdaq officially filed 19b-4 forms with the US SEC seeking approval to list and trade the CoinShares XRP and Litecoin ETF products. If approved, these funds would give investors direct exposure to XRP $2.27 24h volatility: 1.5% Market cap: $132.06 B Vol. 24h: $2.80 B and LTC $89.86 24h volatility: 0.8% Market cap: $6.80 B Vol. 24h: $483.89 M .
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Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalist who relishes writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desire to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain media and sites.
