Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X Account Compromised in Apparent VLAD Token Scam
Key Takeaways
- •Hackers seized control of Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev's X account to promote a fraudulent VLAD memecoin containing a malicious token contract address.
- •The deceptive post accumulated more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users recognized it as a scam and issued warnings.
- •Onchain monitor MLM reported that the attackers exploited approximately 650 Ether, valued between $1.2 million and $1.3 million.
- •Robinhood officially confirmed the account compromise and stated the fraudulent post was removed while working with X to regain access.
- •An online investigator identified a wallet potentially linked to the hacker group that spent $126.81 on VLAD tokens and held an estimated unrealized profit of roughly $159,000.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised on Thursday after a post appeared promoting a fake memecoin called “VLAD” and included what appeared to be a malicious token contract address.
The post drew more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users identified it as a scam and warned others not to interact with the token. The post was attributed to Tenev’s account on X: https://x.com/vladtenev/status/2080343245549195332.
The incident highlights a recurring risk in crypto markets: compromised high-profile social media accounts can be used to give fraudulent token launches a veneer of legitimacy before platforms, security researchers, or blockchain explorers are able to flag them. Because token transfers on public blockchains are generally irreversible, warnings and contract labels often serve mainly to limit further exposure after suspicious activity is identified.
The compromise was reported by onchain data provider Onchain Lens in a post on X: https://x.com/OnchainLens/status/2080351487033811410. Robinhood Chain’s blockchain explorer later labeled the token’s contract address as a scam:
Robinhood subsequently confirmed the hack through its Robinhood Comms X account. “We’re working with X to restore access and the post has been removed,” the company said: https://x.com/RobinhoodComms/status/2080353603160584640.
Onchain monitor MLM later reported that the hackers exploited approximately 650 Ether (ETH), valued at between $1.2 million and $1.3 million. The finding was also shared by Wu Blockchain on X: https://x.com/WuBlockchain/status/2080360915808178634.
An X user and online sleuth who goes by Jeff claimed to have identified a wallet address that appears to be connected to the hacker group: https://x.com/cfm_sol/status/2080350700694081583. According to the user, the wallet spent $126.81 to buy 47.2 million VLAD tokens. Based on current prices cited by the user, the position was estimated to have an unrealized profit of roughly $159,000.
Hacks and scams continue to affect the crypto industry, with attackers increasingly shifting toward phishing campaigns, according to Nominis. The trend has emerged even as the total value stolen through crypto scams has declined in recent months.