Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X Account Hacked to Promote Fake Memecoin

TLDR

• Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was hacked Thursday and used to promote a fake memecoin called Vladhood ($VLAD)
• The post falsely claimed the token would be listed on the Robinhood app and included a wallet address
• The post got over 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before being flagged as a scam
• Hackers exploited roughly 650 Ether, worth between $1.2 million and $1.3 million
• Robinhood confirmed the hack and said it is working with X to restore account access

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Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was hacked Thursday and used to promote a fake memecoin, in what appears to be a coordinated crypto scam targeting the brokerage’s recently launched blockchain.

I’m back.

We are awaiting details from the @X team to better understand what happened.

In case it wasn’t clear, Robinhood has not issued any coins or tokens. Stay safe out there.

— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) July 24, 2026

The post introduced a token called Vladhood as the “official Robinhood chain mascot.” It falsely claimed the token would be listed inside the Robinhood app and included a blockchain wallet address.

The post read: “Does Robinhood love memes? The answer is yes.”

It racked up more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users identified it as a scam and warned others not to interact with it.

Robinhood confirmed the breach through its official communications account on X. “Heads up: Our CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised and posted a fake promotion for a meme coin,” the company said. “We’re working with X to restore access and the post has been removed.”

How the Hack Played Out

Onchain data provider Onchain Lens reported the compromise. Robinhood Chain’s blockchain explorer has since labeled the token’s contract address as a scam.

Onchain monitor MLM reported that the hackers exploited roughly 650 Ether, valued between $1.2 million and $1.3 million. That finding was also shared by Wu Blockchain.

An online sleuth known as Jeff identified a wallet address believed to be linked to the hacker group. According to Jeff, the wallet spent $126.81 to buy 47.2 million VLAD tokens, which were sitting on an estimated unrealized profit of around $159,000.

Robinhood Chain’s Fast Growth

The hack comes at a time when Robinhood Chain has been growing quickly since launching earlier this month.

The network has pulled in more than $700 million in assets across stablecoins, tokenized stocks, and memecoins, according to a Dune dashboard from Entropy Advisors.

The chain has also crossed 300,000 daily active addresses and processed around 10 million transactions in a single day.

That rapid growth has attracted a wave of new memecoins trying to ride the chain’s momentum, making it a target for scammers.

The incident fits a wider pattern in crypto. Phishing campaigns and social media account takeovers have become increasingly common tools for attackers, according to security firm Nominis.

That is happening even as the total value stolen through crypto scams has declined in recent months.

Robinhood has not commented further beyond confirming the hack and the removal of the post.