Robinhood CEO's X Account Hacked to Promote Fake Vladhood Meme Coin

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev's verified X account was compromised on Thursday and used to promote an unauthorized meme coin called Vladhood (VLAD). The company secured the account and removed the fraudulent post, which falsely claimed VLAD was the official mascot of Robinhood Chain and would be listed on the Robinhood app. On-chain trackers estimated the attacker collected approximately 650 ETH, roughly $1.2 million, across about 1,868 trades, while the post drew more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users flagged it as a scam.

Fraudulent Post Made False Claims About Robinhood Chain and App Listing

The deleted post made two false claims to borrow credibility from Tenev's verified profile. It described VLAD as the "official mascot of Robinhood Chain", the company's own blockchain, and stated the token would be listed on the Robinhood app. Robinhood disowned both claims. The company's communications team confirmed that the token was unauthorized and stated they were working with X to restore account access.

On-chain records show the VLAD contract was deployed about 46 minutes before the hacked post appeared, indicating the scheme was planned in advance.

Attacker Collected Approximately 650 ETH Across 1,868 Trades

On-chain trackers estimated the attacker took in around 650 ETH, worth roughly $1.2 million, across about 1,868 trades. A separate on-chain estimate put the fees collected by the token's creator wallet at about $59,000, a narrower slice than the total proceeds.

The post gathered more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users flagged it as a scam and warned others not to buy. Robinhood did not say whether any of its users lost money, and the token was not connected to the company in any way.

Robinhood Chain Launched 1 July for Tokenized Equities

The scam leaned on Robinhood Chain, the Ethereum layer-2 network Robinhood launched on 1 July to trade tokenized stocks and other real-world assets. Robinhood pitched the chain as infrastructure for tokenized equities when it went live three weeks ago.

FAQ

What happened to Vlad Tenev's X account on Thursday?

Vlad Tenev's verified X account was compromised on Thursday and used to promote an unauthorized meme coin called Vladhood (VLAD). Robinhood secured the account and removed the fraudulent post, which falsely claimed VLAD was the official mascot of Robinhood Chain and would be listed on the Robinhood app.

How much money did the attacker collect from the fake Vladhood token?

On-chain trackers estimated the attacker collected approximately 650 ETH, worth roughly $1.2 million, across about 1,868 trades. A separate estimate put the fees collected by the token's creator wallet at about $59,000.