Share this article
British Man Arrested in Connection With Last Year’s Massive Twitter Hack
Twenty-two-year-old Joseph O’Conner is the fourth person to be arrested in connection with the crypto phishing scheme
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:29 p.m. Published Jul 21, 2021, 5:37 p.m.
Spanish officials have arrested a 22-year-old British man in connection with last July’s huge Twitter hack, in which at least 130 high-profile accounts, many belonging to celebrities, were taken over and used to promote a bitcoin scam that netted the hackers approximately $120,000.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Joseph O’Conner, also known by his online handle PlugWalkJoe, was arrested Wednesday by the Spanish National Police in Estepona, Spain, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was charged with multiple counts of conspiracy and intentionally accessing a computer without authorization.
The Twitter hack compromised the accounts of top cryptocurrency exchanges, and prominent crypto Twitter accounts (including CoinDesk), before moving on to mainstream accounts including those of Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Kanye West, Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama.
The accounts all tweeted a bitcoin scam, promising to double senders' bitcoin if they sent them to a specific address.
O’Conner is the fourth co-conspirator to be arrested in connection with the hack.
In late July 2020, officials arrested three individuals – Nima Fazeli, Mason John Sheppard, and Graham Clark – and charged them with multiple felony counts of fraud.
Seventeen-year-old Graham Clark, considered by officials to be the ringleader of the hack, was charged with 30 felonies and was sentenced to three years in prison in March.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Barclays Sees ‘Down-Year’ for Crypto in 2026 Without Big Catalysts
Spot trading volumes are cooling, and investor enthusiasm is fading amid a lack of structural growth drivers, analysts wrote in a new report.
What to know:
- Barclays forecasts lower crypto trading volumes in 2026, with no clear catalysts to revive market activity.
- Spot market slowdowns pose revenue challenges for retail-focused platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood, the bank said.
- Regulatory clarity, including pending market structure legislation, could shape long-term market growth despite near-term headwinds.
Top Stories
