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The Bitcoin ETF fake news incident has resulted in a 14-month prison sentence for the perpetrator.
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia announced on the 16th that defendant Eric Council Jr. (26), who disseminated fake news about the "approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF," has been sentenced to 14 months.
The prosecution had sought a two-year prison sentence for the defendant for undermining public trust in the market and financial institutions, but this has been reduced.
The defendant Council had posted a fake message on January 9, 2024, on the SEC's X account, stating that a Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) had been approved.
What is a Bitcoin ETF?
An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that includes Bitcoin as an investment target. It involves purchasing actual Bitcoin and trading a trust (ETF) based on that Bitcoin in the stock market. Investors can invest in its value without directly purchasing Bitcoin.
At this point, the physical ETF had not yet been approved, but after the post, the price of Bitcoin surged over $1,000. However, it was later revealed that this announcement was false, causing the value of Bitcoin to drop by over $2,000.
According to court documents, the council defendant had begun preparations with accomplices to carry out a subscriber identification model (SIM) attack (commonly known as a SIM swap) against the SEC's X account by at least January 2024.
U.S. Attorney Janine Ferris Pirro has issued the following statement.
Such crimes threaten the integrity of our market system.
SIM swap fraud is a threat to the financial security of ordinary citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies. The perpetrators will definitely be caught, prosecuted, and will have to pay for the damages caused by their actions.
Matthew R. Galeotti, Director of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, commented as follows.
Prosecuting those who threaten the integrity of the digital asset market through fraud and seek to enrich themselves is extremely important for protecting U.S. interests. The Department of Justice is working diligently to hold accountable those who engage in cyber fraud and cause harm to investors.
A SIM swap attack is when a criminal tricks a mobile phone company into reassigning a victim's phone number from their SIM card to a SIM card and phone controlled by the criminal, in an attempt to access the victim's personal information.
The defendants of the council deceived the mobile phone companies into assigning SEC-related phone numbers to new SIM cards, generating a security authentication code for password reset of the X account, and sending that code to a phone managed by criminals.
In June 2024, the FBI searched the apartment in Alabama where the defendant Council was residing. They seized counterfeit identification documents and laptops used in the crime.
Subsequently, the Council defendant was arrested in October 2024 and pleaded guilty in February 2025 to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft in the District of Columbia.