Summary

  • Vlad Tenev's verified X account was compromised on Thursday, promoting a fraudulent meme coin named Vladhood (VLAD).
  • Robinhood acknowledged the incident, asserting the post was unauthorized and that the account has been secured.
  • Since its launch on July 1, Robinhood Chain's Ethereum layer-2 has seen speculative meme coins outpace tokenized stocks on the platform.

On Thursday, Robinhood's communications team reported that CEO Vlad Tenev's X account was briefly hacked, leading to the promotion of a counterfeit meme coin, highlighting ongoing scams targeting the brokerage's crypto initiatives.

The now-deleted post advertised a token called Vladhood, with the ticker VLAD, and misleadingly presented it as the "official mascot of Robinhood Chain." It further claimed that the coin would be listed on the Robinhood app, attempting to lend credibility to the scheme using Tenev's verified account.

"Our CEO Vlad Tenev's X account was compromised and posted a fake promotion for a meme coin," the company stated from its official communications account, emphasizing that the token was unauthorized. They confirmed that the account has since been secured.

🚨Attention: Our CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised and posted a fake promotion for a meme coin.

We are collaborating with X to regain access, and the post has been removed.

— Robinhood Comms (@RobinhoodComms) July 23, 2026

This incident reflects a troubling trend of high-profile accounts on X and other social media being hacked to endorse meme coin scams. In 2024, as trading in meme coins surged, numerous celebrity accounts, including those of Sydney Sweeney, Doja Cat, and 50 Cent, were frequently compromised to promote fake meme coins.

On the other hand, Robinhood launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, its Ethereum layer-2 network, on July 1, promoting it as a platform for tokenized stocks and other real-world assets. However, initial activity has been largely dominated by speculative meme coins, leading to a rise in scams and rug pulls on the network.

Significant losses have occurred; for instance, one investor in CashCat—the chain's leading meme coin—reportedly lost $56,000 due to a compromised smart contract, while other traders noted that funds disappeared immediately after swaps were confirmed.

This hack serves as a reminder for Tenev, who previously criticized assets without underlying utility, but later acknowledged that his chain "works great for memes too," highlighting how the frenzy surrounding meme coins can overshadow serious trading initiatives.