- Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was hacked to promote a fake VLAD token.
- Hackers made about $1.3M as the fake memecoin briefly surged in value.
- Robinhood Chain now holds over $750M in assets since its July 1 launch.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised on Thursday and briefly used to promote a fake memecoin called Vladhood (VLAD). The fraudulent post described the token as the “official Robinhood Chain mascot,” claimed it would be listed on the Robinhood app, and included a token contract address for traders.
The post reached more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users flagged it as a scam. Robinhood quickly removed the post and confirmed that Tenev’s account had been hacked.
“Our CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised and posted a fake promotion for a meme coin,” Robinhood’s communications account wrote on X. The company added that it was working with X to restore access, and later, the account was secured.
Traders Rushed Into the Token Before It Collapsed
The hacked post appeared while Robinhood Chain was experiencing heavy memecoin speculation. Onchain activity shows traders bought VLAD within minutes after believing the token had official backing from Robinhood’s CEO.
Blockchain data revealed that roughly 70% of the token supply was controlled by the earliest wallets. The token’s market capitalization quickly climbed to between $4 million and $10 million before collapsing.
Onchain monitors reported that wallets linked to the scheme cashed out around 650 ETH, worth around $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Liquidity for the token was never locked or burned, allowing fees to continue flowing to wallets controlling the liquidity pool.
Thousands of retail investors were left holding the token after the sell-off. Robinhood Chain’s blockchain explorer later labeled the contract address as a scam, while blockchain explorers marked the token as high risk within the hour.
One blockchain researcher claimed a suspected attacker spent just $126.81 to purchase 47.2 million VLAD tokens, with the position later showing an estimated unrealized profit of around $159,000.
Robinhood Chain’s Rapid Growth Has Attracted Speculators
The incident comes less than a month after Robinhood launched its Ethereum Layer-2 network on July 1, built using the Arbitrum Orbit stack.
The network was introduced to support tokenized stocks and other real-world assets. However, memecoins have dominated early activity.
According to Arbitrum, Robinhood Chain has already attracted more than $750 million in assets across stablecoins, tokenized stocks, and memecoins. The network has surpassed 300,000 daily active addresses and processed roughly 10 million transactions in a single day.
The rapid growth has triggered a flood of new token launches, with many attempting to capitalize on the chain’s popularity. Earlier this month, Tenev acknowledged the trend himself, saying Robinhood Chain was built for real-world assets but “works great for memes too.”
Latest Hack Follows a Familiar Crypto Scam Pattern
The attack follows a well-known playbook used during previous crypto market cycles. Hackers compromise verified social media accounts, promote a token using the account’s credibility, attract buyers through fear of missing out, and sell their holdings before the price crashes.
High-profile X accounts belonging to celebrities including Sydney Sweeney, Doja Cat, and 50 Cent were similarly compromised during the 2024 memecoin boom to promote fake tokens.
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