In a recent incident, Dante Disparte, the Chief Strategy Officer of Circle, had his Twitter account hacked, and a fake airdrop message was posted by the hackers.
The tweet posted on March 22nd announced a token reward for longtime USDC users, which has since been deleted. At the time of writing this article, four of the hacker’s tweets have been deleted, leaving only three remaining tweets that comment on events surrounding USDC.
Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, confirmed that the chain of tweets promising a money airdrop for USDC holders was not authentic. He stated that Disparte’s account was hacked, and false information was spread.
“Any links leading to the airdrop event are scams. We are investigating the situation and implementing appropriate measures,” the USDC issuer wrote. At that time, the imposter claiming to be Disparte asserted that the USDC owner would receive a reward after the stablecoin lost its peg at the beginning of February.
The attacker claimed that the token reward would be distributed to the community through an airdrop. One tweet in the chain of posts redirected users to a URL that was not on Circle’s domain.
@ddisparte Twitter account was hacked. https://t.co/pItTHAG9Al
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) March 22, 2023
From March 11th to 12th, the USDC stablecoin lost its peg at a 1:1 exchange rate with the USD, reaching a record low of $0.87 at times. It was only on Monday, March 13th, when banks resumed operations, that USDC returned to its peg.
Shortly after, fake Circle accounts began to appear on social media, promising to compensate users for their losses. Despite USDC’s return to $1, many people sold their USDC at a loss during the market’s panic. An estimated $10 billion was lost.
This event highlights the importance of security measures and serves as a reminder to be vigilant while online. The incident also underscores the risks of putting one’s trust in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. While blockchain technology is known for its security, hacks and scams remain a significant issue in the industry. It is crucial to remain informed and cautious when dealing with digital currencies.
Read more:
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