Hackers target crypto influencer X accounts, shill meme coins
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Over the weekend, a series of hacks compromised several X accounts from crypto influencers and celebrities to promote a number of coins, resulting in short-lived price surges.
One of the most prominent targets was GCR, whose account was compromised on May 26. After the initial intrusion, the hacker was able to post promotional content on ORDI and Luna2.0, causing momentary price increases of 6% and 274% for the tokens. Observers noted that the hacker could have chosen to promote a microcap coin for more significant gains, rather than the relatively established ORDI, which already has a market cap of $856 million.
Udi Wertheimer, a Bitcoin dev and Ordinals supporter, warned that the incident with GCR may not be an isolated case. It appears that this was part of a broader operation targeting celebrity X accounts, such as mumble rapper Rich the Kid and media personality Caitlyn Jenner.
For the former, a new token called $RICH on the Solana meme coin creation platform pump.fun. No official confirmation from Rich the Kid’s management team has been posted, although the post has already been deleted. Current market cap for this coin has stagnated at $144K, data from dexscreener indicates.
As for Jenner’s account, a meme coin named $JENNER was also promoted, moving the coin’s market capitalization to $25 million, according to aggregated data from Raydium and GeckoTerminal.
Despite videos of Jenner assuring followers that the posts are genuine, many industry experts believe the account has been compromised. Interestingly, the crypto wallet address posted by Jenner matches the one used by adult content creator Kazumi, whose account was hacked on May 20 to promote the “ZUMI” coin.
No data regarding the threat actor’s identity has been disclosed at the time of writing, while no particular entity has claimed responsibility for the hacks, and whether these are connected or related to a singular hacker or group has not been established.
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Author: Vince Dioquino
