Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has addressed the recent compromise of his X account after hackers used the profile to promote a fake crypto scheme.
Tenev returned to the platform on Thursday, stating that Robinhood was "awaiting details" from X to better understand what happened. He also clarified that the trading giant had not launched any cryptocurrency token despite its deep involvement in the crypto sector.
"I'm back. We are awaiting details from the @X team to better understand what happened. In case it wasn't clear, Robinhood has not issued any coins or tokens. Stay safe out there," Tenev posted.
On Thursday, Robinhood’s communications team confirmed that Tenev’s account had been compromised to advertise a bogus meme coin.
"Our CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised and posted a fake promotion for a meme coin. We’re working with X to restore access and the post has been removed," Robinhood Comms said.
A familiar pattern
The fake promotion follows a familiar pattern that is typically observed in crypto-related account breaches. Attackers take control of high-profile social accounts and promote fake tokens or giveaways in the hope of luring in gullible and uninformed victims.
In 2020, hackers gained access to dozens of prominent X accounts, including those linked to Elon Musk, to advertise a fake BTC giveaway.
In September 2023, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s X account was compromised and used to promote a fake NFT giveaway.
Sometimes hackers get more creative. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s official X account was compromised to prematurely announce the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. This briefly pushed the price of Bitcoin (BTC) sharply higher.
Earlier this month, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky also revealed that his X account had been compromised after hackers used it to publish a lengthy thread discussing blockchain-based tokenization and real-world assets. Some observers questioned why a hacker would choose to promote tokenization.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
