The official X account of legendary heavy steel band Metallica was briefly compromised to advertise a crypto scam. The hackers used the chance to advertise a fraudulent Solana-based (SOL) token with the ticker METAL late on Tuesday EST (June 25).
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The now-deleted unauthorized posts claimed a partnership with Ticketmaster and involvement from fintech firm MoonPay. Nevertheless, each corporations shortly distanced themselves from the venture. MoonPay’s president, Keith Grossman, explicitly denied any connection:
If somebody is providing you a $METAL token, they aren’t the grasp of puppets – they’re the grasp of scams! 🎸
Preserve your keys protected and trip the lightning responsibly!⚡️
The hackers tried to lure potential consumers by promising unique perks comparable to free live performance tickets, customized gaming consoles, and merchandise in change for METAL tokens. In another deleted-post even prompt the token would provide staking rewards.
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Metallica’s crypto rip-off token
Regardless of these claims, the token’s worth plummeted shortly after its launch. According to Dexscreener data, METAL’s complete worth briefly peaked at $3.37 million earlier than crashing to round $90,000 inside three hours. The worth dropped by almost 100% from its excessive level.
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Metallica’s crew has since regained management of the X account and deleted all posts associated to the faux token. The band and their administration haven’t but commented on the incident, and the tactic of the account breach stays unclear.
This occasion serves as a reminder of the continuing dangers of cryptocurrency scams and the significance of verifying data from official sources, even when it seems to come back from verified accounts of well-known entities.
The report follows early June leaks suggesting that Metallica is planning to carry a live performance in Fortnite.