X Marks the Spot
An Alabama man hacks the Securities and Exchange Commission with an iPhone, then returns it for a refund
“Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth. … Sweet home Alabama.” - Lynyrd Skynyrd
It’s difficult to say how a guy can be smart enough to hack the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account to manipulate the price of bitcoin, but dumb enough to return the phone he used in the crime to the store.
It’s not clear from the record if this is what got Eric Council Jr., 25, busted last week, but it was clearly a loose end. Don’t most criminals toss the evidence in a river, bury it in the woods or burn it in a rusty drum?
Not Council, a jobless food-delivery driver who posted online as “Ronin,” “AGiantSchnauzer, and “@easymunny.”
After his otherwise successful strike – which delivered immediate disgrace to the SEC and quick profits to bitcoin traders – he made a chain of incriminating Internet searches, according to his indictment:
“SECGOV hack”
“federal identity theft statute”
“how long does it take to delete a telegram account”
“what are the signs the FBI is after you”
An ‘unacceptable failure’
Perhaps you’ll recall this bizarre drama that unfolded in January with a tweet from the SEC’s X account. The post was attributed to Chairman Gary Gensler. It reported that the agency had just approved Exchange Traded Funds for bitcoin.
The tweet sent bitcoin soaring by as much as $1,000 until Gensler announced on his personal X account that the agency had been hacked. Then bitcoin fell $2,000.
Oddly enough, about 24 hours later, the SEC did in fact approve bitcoin ETFs – but the hack represented a high-profile blunder that brought a bipartisan backlash upon the regulator and put a political target on Gensler’s back.
“This failure is unacceptable, and it is disturbing that your agency could not even meet the standard you require of private industry,” House Financial Services Committee members wrote in a letter to Gensler.
All this, allegedly from some guy who comes from Alabama with an iPhone in his hand instead of a banjo on his knee.
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