Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, US authorities have proposed a plea deal for Eric Council Jr., who is accused of helping hack the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account in January 2024. Ether exchange-traded products (ETPs) have accumulated more inflows over the past trading week than Bitcoin, and markets dropped following news of US President Donald Trump’s planned steel and aluminum tariffs.Alleged hacker behind fake SEC post could forfeit $50K in plea dealUS authorities have proposed a plea agreement for Eric Council Jr., the individual who allegedly helped compromise the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account in January 2024.In a Feb. 9 filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, federal prosecutors proposed a forfeiture order that could require Council to pay $50,000 he “personally obtained” as a result of the posting a message to X suggesting that the SEC had approved spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the first time. The alleged hacker would also plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.Council has been accused of being a member of the group that temporarily took control of the SEC’s X account in January 2024 through a SIM swap attack. The breach allowed the hackers to post a false message featuring an image of then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler announcing the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC removed the message and officially announced greenlighting the investment vehicles less than 24 hours later. According to a Feb. 10 order, he will return to court on May 16 for sentencing.Ether ETPs outpace Bitcoin in crypto inflows for the first time in 2025Cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) posted a fifth consecutive week of inflows, totaling $1.3 billion, with Ether-based ETPs seeing the largest inflows.Ether ETPs accumulated 95% more inflows than Bitcoin ETPs in the past trading week, recording a massive $793 million of inflows, CoinShares reported on Feb. 10.The spike in Ether ETP activity came as ETH tumbled below $2,700 on Feb. 6, leading to “significant buying-on-weakness,” CoinShares research director James Butterfill wrote.The surge marked the first time for Ether ETPs to outperform Bitcoin ETPs by inflows in 2025, with similar instances occurring in late 2024.In the past trading week, Bitcoin ETP inflows tumbled around 19% from inflows during the previous week, totaling $407 million.Despite losing to Ether in weekly inflows, Bitcoin continues to lead overall with year-to-date inflows of nearly $6 billion — 505% higher than Ether’s YTD total.Crypto drops on Trump’s planned steel and aluminum tariffsCrypto markets temporarily dropped on Feb. 9 after US President Donald Trump said he’d slap 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel while warning he’d launch reciprocal tariffs on countries levying import fees on US goods.Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to a low of $94,000 in response, following other cryptocurrencies in a sea of red. However, Bitcoin crossed back over $97,000 just two hours later alongside a wider market recovery, according to CoinMarketCap.Ether (ETH) also stumbled, reaching a low of $2,537 but has since climbed back to $2,645, nearly the same level it was before Trump announced his planned tariffs.The market drop is a repeat of what happened in early February, when Trump’s planned tariffs of 25% against major trading partners Canada and Mexico and 10% on China, crashed both the stock and crypto markets, which some analysts said caused crypto liquidations to reach up to $10 billion.The crypto market rebounded after Trump paused the planned tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days on Feb. 3. However, he hasn’t ruled out reinstating them once the pause is up.