Ai16z Crashes 15% After Hackers Accessed Founder’s Account to Promote Scam ELIZA Token

Hackers compromised the X account of Shaw, the founder of the AI agent token ai16z, and promoted a scam ELIZA token.

Multiple sources reported the Sunday exploit, with Shaw himself confirming it much later. He revealed that bad actors gained access to his X account inexplicably and promoted a Solana-based token with the ticker ELIZA.

According to DexScreener, the token surged considerably following the launch, hitting a high of $0.01162. However, the scam token has capitulated over 13% to its current price of $0.01008.

Token Unrelated to Shaw

The Modern Market Show contributor S4mmy first confirmed the suspicious activity on Shaw’s X account. He advised against interacting with the account or investing in the scam token ELIZA.

Furthermore, ai16z’s official X account attested to the hack, insisting the AI agent project has not launched a new token. The protocol also warned users of falling for the trick, encouraging abstinence from the X account.

A few hours later, Shaw verified that he had recovered his account. He branded the hack a “well-designed and targeted” attack, as he has several levels of protection, including two-factor authentication (2FA), a password manager, and a strong password.

I don’t know wtf happened with the hack

I have 2FA, password manager, strong password, etc

It was obviously well designed and targeted

Sorry to anyone who lost funds

This space is so tiring tbh

— Shaw (wartime arc) (@shawmakesmagic) February 16, 2025

Meanwhile, Shaw apologized to users who had lost their funds to the rug pull.

Notably, Shaw’s account of the hack failed to convince a faction of the crypto community, who suggested he may have a hand in it. Nonetheless, these assertions remain purely speculative and unconfirmed.

The reasons for the bias followed a recent disclosure from popular rapper Kanye West. For context, the artist revealed a company offered him $2 million to fake a hack and scam his community by promoting a fake Solana token.

Ai16z Falls 15% Amid Mixed Reactions

The AI agent token experienced an intense sell-off amid the uncertainties surrounding Shaw’s X hack, retracing over 15% to a low of $0.355. However, it has rebounded slightly to $0.3702 at press time.

Moreover, the token has corrected massively in the past month after a strong market outing late last year. Monday’s consolidation increased its monthly depletion to over 64%, and it is now 85% away from its all-time high of $2.509.

Nonetheless, this is one of the recent X compromises involving notable accounts. The decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter’s account was recently hacked and used to promote a scam token with the ticker MEOW.

In the past, accounts belonging to footballer Kylian Mbappe, food chain McDonald’s, and EigenLayerX have faced similar plights amid the growing trend of social media hacks to rug pull users.

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