Alleged SEC hacker allowed to travel for the holidays

December 18, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

A federal judge has given Eric Council Jr., who pleaded not guilty to compromising the SEC's X account, permission to travel to North Carolina between Dec. 23 and Dec. 29.

Eric Council Jr., the individual who allegedly hacked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account in January and posted a message suggesting that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had been approved, will be allowed to travel for the holidays.

In a Dec. 13 filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Council could travel to North Carolina with a third-party custodian between Dec. 23 and Dec. 29. The judge said the alleged hacker “must provide Pre-Trial Services with his precise itinerary and information concerning where he will be staying at least two business days before traveling.”

Council pleaded not guilty to hacking the SEC’s X account on Jan. 9 and posting a message suggesting that the commission had greenlighted spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs at a time when many in the industry expected a decision. The fake message, complete with a quote from SEC Chair Gary Gensler, shook markets before the commission officially approved the investment vehicles roughly 24 hours later.

Could Bitcoiners embrace BlueSky, an X alternative that hit 25M users?

December 13, 2024 Coin Telegraph

BlueSky

The social media platform has roughly doubled its number of users since November, suggesting it may have pulled some US-based X users after the presidential election.

The social media website initially kicked off by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey has hit more than 25 million users as some abandon or completely delete their X accounts, leading many to question how the platform will differ in content, moderation and tone.

BlueSky reported that its total number of users had reached more than 25 million as of Dec. 12, roughly double the platform had after the United States election on Nov. 5. The social media site still comes up short compared to Meta’s Threads, which has more than 275 million monthly active users, and X, with more than 250 million daily active users as of 2022.

It’s difficult to estimate the exact number of users who may have left X directly in response to Elon Musk purchasing the platform and becoming involved in US politics. Musk has also been a proponent of Dogecoin (DOGE), even proposing President-elect Donald Trump create a “government efficiency” position based on an acronym of the memecoin’s ticker symbol.