According to PANews, a judge has sentenced an Alabama man to 14 months in prison for his role in the January 2024 breach of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account. The account was used to send a tweet that temporarily increased Bitcoin's price by over $1,000.
Three months ago, the man admitted in a Washington D.C. federal court to charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and device fraud. He assisted others in gaining control of the SEC's account, which falsely claimed that the SEC had officially approved a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Following the tweet, Bitcoin's price surged but later fell by more than $2,000 after the SEC quickly regained control of the account and labeled the tweet as false.
Notably, the SEC announced the following day that it had approved a rule change allowing the creation of a Bitcoin ETF.
