The crypto ecosystem is reeling from a fresh wave of hacks targeting the X accounts (formerly Twitter) of major projects. Recent devastating attacks on Tron DAO and Curve Finance highlight persisting security vulnerabilities in the Web3 space.
On May 2nd, the official Tron DAO X account was compromised by hackers. They posted a fake smart contract address, luring subscribers to make payments in exchange for advertising services on the Tron network. According to Tron, this social engineering attack allowed the perpetrators to steal the equivalent of $45,000 from the unsuspecting users.
Although the Tron team quickly regained control of the account, they highlight that the hacking likely originated from credentials theft of one of their team members. Investigators also noticed similarities with the hacking of the X account of The New York Post the following day, without establishing a formal link.
A few days later, on May 5th, the Curve Finance X account, a major player in DeFi, was also compromised. A fraudulent message announcing a fake CRV token airdrop was briefly posted, inviting users to register on a third-party site.
Although access to the account was swiftly restored with the assistance of the cybersecurity group SEAL, the Curve team revealed that the hacker had previously blocked some accounts that had tried to alert the community. To date, no specific vulnerability has been identified, with the exact origin of the hack still “unclear” according to officials.
These events are part of a broader context of increasing attacks targeting X accounts (formerly Twitter) related to cryptocurrencies. Since the beginning of the year, numerous other notable cases have been documented, affecting political figures, blockchain start-ups, and even exchanges.
As the crypto industry matures, securing X accounts – often at the core of project communication – becomes a top priority. The recent attacks on Tron DAO and Curve Finance demonstrate that even experienced players can be vulnerable to social engineering techniques.
To rebuild community trust, crucial for Web3 development, the ecosystem must now move towards more robust security protocols. A daunting yet essential challenge to ensure long-term resilience of the crypto ecosystem.
It is worth noting that these hacks do not only target crypto accounts, as crypto scams have been promoted on McDonald’s Instagram account or on football players’ accounts like Mbappé’s.
Therefore, it is essential to approach such links with caution and protect against such attacks. According to Peckshield, crypto hacks and scams cost 3 billion dollars in 2024, with 71% of the losses attributed to hacks, often propagated through compromised X accounts.
Charles Ledoux is a Bitcoin and blockchain technology specialist. A graduate of the Crypto Academy, he has been a Bitcoin miner for over a year. He has written numerous masterclasses to educate newcomers to the industry and has authored over 2,000 articles on cryptocurrency. Now, he aims to share his passion for crypto through his articles for InvestX.
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