Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé's X account apparently hacked to promote token launched via pump.fun
Quick Take
- The official X account of Kylian Mbappé appeared to be hacked overnight and used to promote a Solana token with the ticker MBAPPE.
- The account reportedly made a series of bizarre posts around the same time involving Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, among more controversial topics.
- All the posts have since been deleted.
The official X account of French football star Kylian Mbappé appeared to be hacked overnight and used to promote a Solana-based token with the ticker MBAPPE, according to multiple online reports.
The forward recently joined Spanish La Liga giant Real Madrid, with one of the posts seemingly writing “VAMOSSS!! $MBAPPE ¡HalaMadrid!” alongside a contract address for the token used to identify the specific asset on trading platforms.
Mbappé’s pinned tweet during the presumed hack said: “I am giving back to my community. I support crypto and I believe you should too! All crypto sent to my address will be sent back to you doubled,” according to UK news outlet The Daily Mail.
Launched using the Solana token deployer platform pump.fun by an account beginning “AuzmvP,” the MBAPPE token briefly surged to a theoretical market cap of $460 million before swiftly collapsing to a market cap of less than $100,000, according to DEX Screener.
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain claimed that one user spent 7,156 SOL ($1 million) to buy MBAPPE in a single transaction, now worth less than $10,000. Another user claimed to have bought 2 SOL ($290) worth of the token and sold it at a high point for a profit of about 1,398 SOL ($200,000), UK news outlet The Mirror reported.
The token still has 838 holders, according to the Solana blockchain explorer Solscan. Numerous other tokens with the same ticker have also been launched, presumably attempting to capitalize on the incident.
Bizarre Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manchester Utd posts
Beyond the crypto token promotion, Mbappé’s X account also made a series of bizarre posts during the period involving a fake Manchester United transfer tease and mocking Lionel Messi’s rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, The Mirror reported.
The account also made controversial posts regarding several English Premier League teams, including Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as comments on the Israel–Hamas war.
Several users on X called out the posts, with one fan account, @Kylian, posting: “Where the f*** is his PR team, this is unacceptable.”
Exactly how or why the posts were made remains unclear. Representatives for Kylian Mbappé did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.
Celeb account hacks to pump crypto tokens on the rise
It’s not the first time a celebrity’s social media account has been hacked in recent months, with incidents seemingly rising following the launch of simple token deployment platforms like pump.fun.
In June, a Hulk Hogan-themed Solana memecoin collapsed after the wrestling legend said deleted posts promoting the token were not from him. Metallica’s official X account was presumably hacked the same month, promoting another pump.fun-launched token with the ticker METAL before the famous metal band reposted warnings on the scam.
Last month, American rapper Doja Cat’s X account was hacked to promote another now-collapsed Solana-based token with the ticker DOJA, and just last week McDonald's Instagram account was seemingly hacked to promote the Solana token GRIMACE.
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