In a shocking turn of events, Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, fell victim to a severe hack on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. The incident, which occurred on September 9, 2023, led to significant losses for many unsuspecting followers who were enticed by a malicious link shared from Buterin’s account.
The hacker cleverly used Buterin’s platform to promote a commemorative non-fungible token (NFT) allegedly celebrating “Proto-Danksharding coming to Ethereum.” Many of Buterin’s 4.9 million followers were misled by the post, believing it to be genuine due to its origin from a verified account. Upon clicking the link to mint the promised NFT, victims found their wallets drained.
Dmitry Buterin, Vitalik’s father, was quick to alert the community about the compromise, urging them to disregard any posts from his son’s account until further notice. Ethereum developer Bok Khoo, also known as BokkyPoobah, was among the victims, reporting significant losses from his CryptoPunk NFT collection.
Prominent blockchain investigator, ZachXBT, has been actively tracking the hacker’s activities, revealing that the total amount swindled from victims surpassed $691,000. The most valuable NFT stolen in this scam was CryptoPunk #3983, which holds an approximate value of $250,543.
The incident has raised concerns about the security measures implemented by high-profile individuals on platforms like X. Some users have even suggested that Buterin should take responsibility for the incident and compensate those affected. However, others argue that Buterin’s elevated status makes him an attractive target for various hacking attempts, emphasizing the challenges of maintaining security in the digital age.
This event serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities that exist even on established platforms and the importance of exercising caution when interacting with links, especially those promising lucrative offers.
