Robinhood's communications team said Thursday that CEO Vlad Tenev's X account was briefly taken over by attackers who used it to promote a fraudulent meme coin, the latest scam to piggyback on the brokerage's crypto ambitions.
The bogus post, since deleted, pitched a token called Vladhood, trading under the ticker VLAD, and framed it as the "official mascot of Robinhood Chain." It went a step further, falsely claiming the coin was slated for a listing on the Robinhood app—a hook designed to lend the scheme legitimacy through Tenev's verified profile.
Heads up: Our CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised and posted a fake promotion for a meme coin.
We’re working with X to restore access and the post has been removed.
For Tenev, who once dismissed assets lacking underlying utility before conceding his chain "works great for memes too," the hack underscores how meme coin frenzy can crowd even ventures built for serious trading.
