Eric Council Jr. entered a guilty plea for conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. This plea is related to his involvement in the unauthorized access and misuse of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) social media account to disseminate false information about the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia received the filing indicating Council's plea. According to prosecutors, Council collaborated with accomplices to hijack the SEC's social media account. The fraudulent post, which appeared in January of the previous year, claimed, "Today the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges."

Following the incident, both the former SEC Chair Gensler and the SEC confirmed that their account had been compromised. The unauthorized post was made a day before the SEC was scheduled to make a decision on the highly anticipated spot bitcoin ETFs, which had been a significant topic of interest within the investment community.

The impact of the false announcement was immediate, as the price of bitcoin surged by over $1,000. This price movement occurred in October, as noted by prosecutors, illustrating the significant influence such announcements can have on cryptocurrency markets.

Council's guilty plea marks a conclusion to one aspect of the event, as legal proceedings continue to address the ramifications of the security breach and the dissemination of misinformation through official channels.

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