In a surprising twist, Vlad Tenev’s X account, the CEO of Robinhood, was hacked to promote a fabricated memecoin that temporarily soared to a $10 million market cap. The breach was confirmed by Robinhood, which swiftly removed the fraudulent post and is collaborating with X to regain control of the account.
The Scam and Its Spread
The unauthorized message appeared on July 23, introducing a token called Vladhood with the ticker VLAD. It was falsely described as the “official Robinhood Chain mascot” and claimed the token would soon be listed on Robinhood’s trading platform. This post linked to a contract address starting with 0x92d, tied to a token created only minutes before through PonsLaunchFactory, a contract deployment service.
Robinhood’s main and crypto-specific accounts did not release any announcements related to Vladhood, making it clear that the promotion was fraudulent. The token’s contract was flagged as a “potential scam” by the Robinhood Chain’s block explorer after recording over 1,800 transactions. Despite the warning, trading activity accelerated sharply right after the post, driving Vladhood’s market cap to nearly $10 million at its peak.
Insider Profits and Ongoing Trading
Onchain analysis revealed that wallets suspected to be insiders cashed out over $1 million during the token’s rapid surge. Although the wallet owners remain unidentified, there’s no direct evidence connecting them to the hacking incident. Even after Robinhood’s statement and the deletion of the post, Vladhood continued to trade, highlighting how blockchain tokens can persist beyond the lifespan of social media hype.
This incident echoes earlier scams targeting prominent figures in crypto, including Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao and projects like BNB Chain and Yi He. Zhao had previously warned about increased social media account hacks aimed at promoting dubious memecoins, especially during periods of heightened memecoin activity.
Robinhood has refuted any involvement with Vladhood, confirming no plans to list or recognize it officially. The episode shows the risks linked to compromised social accounts in the crypto space, where a single hacked profile can generate millions in market cap swings.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s Twitter Account Compromised to Promote Fraudulent Crypto Token offers additional context on social media exploits in this space.
