Rapper 50 Cent’s X Account Hacked to Promote Fraudulent Meme Coin

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Rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson recently became the target of a cyberattack, with his X (formerly Twitter) account hijacked to promote a fraudulent meme coin linked to the Solana blockchain.

The hacker exploited the growing trend of celebrity-endorsed meme coins, misleading many into believing that 50 Cent was genuinely supporting a new Solana token called GUNIT, launched via Pump.fun.

Elaborate promotional tweets referenced the rapper’s cognac brand and mentioned other high-profile crypto projects, such as Martin Shkreli’s purported Donald Trump Solana token and influencer Andrew Tate’s DADDY coin. One tweet even featured a meme placing 50 Cent at the center of the Solana ecosystem.

GUNIT Surged 8,000% Before Crashing

While some users were skeptical, others were initially uncertain about the legitimacy of the endorsements. Millions of dollars quickly poured into GUNIT, driving its trading volume to $18.6 million and causing its value to surge by 8,000% before rapidly plummeting as liquidity vanished.

This incident underscores the recent rise in celebrity meme coins on platforms like Pump.fun, where endorsements by well-known personalities can dramatically inflate a token’s value. Tokens like DADDY, promoted by Andrew Tate, and MOTHER, supported by Iggy Azalea, saw significant market cap growth based on celebrity influence alone.

However, the GUNIT scheme unraveled swiftly. 50 Cent confirmed on Instagram that his X account and website had been hacked, and the promotional posts were not genuine. X subsequently locked his account, making all tweets inaccessible.

As the truth surfaced, GUNIT’s value continued to fall, though it still maintains a market cap of around $70,000, with new purchases ongoing.

Hacker Makes Off With $300 Million

50 Cent alleged in his Instagram update that the hacker absconded with $300 million. However, multiple data sources indicated that GUNIT’s market cap at its peak was only a fraction of that amount, highlighting the discrepancy between a token’s market cap and the actual liquidity available to its creator.

This incident is not isolated amid the current wave of celebrity meme coins. Earlier this month, wrestler Hulk Hogan experienced a similar hack, with his Twitter account used to promote a HULK token that generated $82 million in trading volume within a day.

Cryptocurrency scams have proliferated on X, with a significant portion of crypto scams attributed to the platform. Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam company active on X, found that nearly $50 million is lost monthly due to account impersonation on X.com. While these issues predate Elon Musk’s involvement with the platform, confusion surrounding Musk’s controversial paid verification service may exacerbate public vulnerability to impersonation scams. The service allows anyone with a smartphone to register and receive verification, complicating efforts to distinguish genuine accounts from fraudulent ones.

Recently, Binance co-founder Yi He raised concerns about the rampant cryptocurrency scams on X, questioning whether Musk would take action to address the issue.