On July 23, Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, saw his X account compromised after a suspicious post promoting a memecoin called VLAD, linked to Robinhood Chain. The tweet claimed VLAD was the official mascot token of the network and teased its upcoming launch on Robinhood’s app, pointing users to a dubious contract address starting with 0x92d.
The message sparked immediate alarm, as neither Robinhood nor Robinhood Crypto confirmed such a development. Tenev’s account removed the post shortly after, while Robinhood Chain’s explorer flagged the token as potentially fraudulent. The exploit reportedly earned around 650 ETH, equating to roughly $1.2 to $1.3 million, exposing the financial dangers associated with rapid memecoin releases.
Memecoin Surge on Robinhood Chain
Since its debut on July 1, Robinhood Chain has become a hotspot for speculative token activity, with VLAD and other tokens like Cashcat fueling high transaction volumes. Powered by Arbitrum Orbit, this Ethereum Layer 2 network handles about six million transactions daily and has seen decentralized exchange volumes approach $9 billion, according to Entropy Advisors.
The VLAD token alone recorded nearly 1,900 transactions through a contract connected to PonsLaunchFactory. Unfortunately, investors who acted on the fake endorsement faced significant losses. This incident highlights the risks executive account breaches pose for creating false trust in crypto projects.
