- The official Twitter account of Activision Blizzard was hacked to promote a fake Solana meme coin called ATVI. The tweets falsely claimed it was an official token launch.
- The hackers linked to a decentralized exchange listing for the fake ATVI token, which saw only about $16,000 in trades before crashing over 99%.
- Activision Blizzard regained control of the account and said they plan to investigate how the hack occurred to improve security going forward.
The official Twitter account for gaming company Activision Blizzard was hacked on Thursday night. The hackers used the account to promote a fake Solana meme coin called ATVI, falsely claiming it was an official token launch by Activision Blizzard.
Details of the Hack
The hacked tweets included images of the Crash Bandicoot character, which Activision owns. They claimed to offer an ATVI token created with Solana Labs, the developers behind Solana. The tweets linked to decentralized exchange listings for a meme coin unrelated to Activision or Solana Labs.
The ATVI token saw only about $16,000 in trades across fewer than 500 transactions. The price crashed over 99% after a brief pump Thursday night. The token currently trades at a fraction of a penny.
Aftermath
Activision Blizzard regained control of the account and tweeted that they “plan to investigate what occurred to avoid situations such as these in the future.” Activision declined further comment.
The company was acquired by Microsoft last year for nearly $69 billion after over a year of regulatory challenges.
Popularity of Solana Meme Coins
Meme coins have flourished on Solana due to the network’s low fees. Coins like Dogwifhat and Bonk are among the most valuable cryptos by market cap. Recent trends have included meme coins with misspelled names of politicians.
Conclusion
While the hack appears unsuccessful in duping many victims, it represents the ongoing risks of account compromises in the social media age. Activision Blizzard now faces the task of determining how its account was accessed and working to improve security.
