Cardano Foundation X Account Hacked: False Claims Spread

Over the weekend, the Cardano Foundation’s official X account was compromised, with hackers promoting a fake Solana-based token called ADASOL and falsely claiming the Foundation would stop supporting ADA due to regulatory issues.

Promoted Fake Solana-Based Token

On Dec. 8, hackers took control of the Cardano Foundation’s X account, posting a series of misleading updates.

They promoted a fake Solana-based ADASOL token, linking to legitimate Cardano resources, like the Foundation’s website and a recent podcast episode, to appear credible.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson confirmed the hack in a social media post after being alerted by the community.

However, before the malicious links were removed, ADASOL generated over $500,000 in trading volume before collapsing as users realized they were tricked.

Misleading Claims About SEC Lawsuit 

Shortly after deleting the ADASOL post, hackers shared another false statement. They claimed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had sued the Cardano Foundation, forcing it to stop supporting the ADA token due to regulatory compliance immediately.

Hackers posted fake messages on the official Cardano Foundation X account. Source: X  

The post spread quickly but was later removed after the Cardano team confirmed that it is working to resolve the issue and secure the compromised account. 

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also addressed X owner Elon Musk , suggesting that the hack presents a good opportunity to revisit a change that the social media platform could implement to improve its users’ security.

Hoskinson shared a link to his YouTube video explaining the “verified tweet” concept and offered to implement the feature for free if Musk approves.

ADA Drops Following Incident

Cardano’s (ADA) price immediately reacted to the fake news, dropping by over 4% to $1.1730 on crypto exchanges. Although it later recovered slightly, the coin’s price continued to decline and, at the time of writing, is hovering around $1.26.

ADA price experienced a correction. Source: CMC

Despite the hacked X account, ADA’s price remained relatively stable in the long term, with the broader market showing resilience to the attack.

Over the past 30 days, ADA’s value has surged by 156%. Additionally, Cardano’s total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) jumped by more than 242% since early November, reaching nearly $709 million on December 3. However, this figure has since decreased slightly to $631.73 million , according to DeFiLlama data.

On the Flipside:

• Cardano is not the only high-profile crypto entity to have faced a hack on X. Other projects, including Compound Finance, EigenLayer, and Symbiotic, have also had their accounts compromised to promote phishing links and fake airdrop scams.

Why This Matters

The incident underscores the vulnerabilities of social media accounts, especially for high-profile organizations in the crypto space. Such attacks can harm not only individual investors but also the reputation of projects.

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