Hackers Breach Jupiter Exchange’s X Account, Promote Fake Cryptocurrencies to Millions of Followers

A social media breach of Jupiter Exchange’s official X account on February 6 resulted in millions of dollars in losses as scammers promoted fake cryptocurrencies

A breach of Jupiter Exchange’s official Mastodon account on February 6 led to millions of dollars in losses as scammers promoted fake cryptocurrencies to the platform’s half-million followers.

The incident began when hackers gained control of the Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator’s X account during the early hours. They promptly used the compromised account to shill a scam token dubbed $MEOW, likely named after Jupiter co-founder Meow.

“Traders lost millions instantly on this Jupiter account hack. Literally in a matter of minutes,” said Beanie, founder of crypto venture capital firm GM Capital, in a statement to gm__capital. “It’s amazing how we trust these protocols with billions of dollars in liquidity, but they’re not competent enough to protect their social media.”

The fake token’s market value surged past $20 million on the C.R.E.A.M. DEX before the scammers drained the liquidity pool, rendering investors unable to sell their holdings. Unfazed, they continued to promote the scam token in Jupiter’s direct messages.

Not satisfied with executing one fraudulent scheme, the hackers went on to promote another scam token called DCOIN. The fake token experienced a market value pump and dump, reaching $8.4 million before collapsing.

Meanwhile, Jupiter’s native token, JUP, experienced immediate fallout from the incident, dropping 12% from $0.85 to $0.75 on centralized exchanges. Despite the significant price decrease, trading volumes spiked dramatically, with activity in the JUP/BTC and JUP/ETH pairs increasing by 300%.

The breach occurred while key team members were traveling for business and personal matters. According to Jupiter co-founder Meow, team member Mei became unreachable when the compromised account was accessed through an Android device using in-flight WiFi during her return flight from a blockchain developer gathering due to a family emergency.

“All customer funds and treasury holdings are safe,” Jupiter assured users after regaining control of their account. “All programs and funds are held in secure multisigs. No other comms channels were affected. Stay vigilant and thanks for the support.”

This incident adds to a troubling pattern of social media compromises in the crypto sector. Last month, Breaking Bad actor Dean Norris’s X account was similarly hacked to promote a scam token that reached $8.4 million in market value before collapsing.

In 2024, the crypto industry lost $1.49 billion to hacks and fraud, according to blockchain security platform Immunefi. While this represents a 17% decrease from 2023, social media account security remains a significant vulnerability for major platforms.