Nasdaq Stonks Token Rug Pull Turns Into Community CTO
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Nasdaq, a global financial services company operating one of the largest stock exchanges, was the victim of a hack in January 2025 when its official X (Twitter) account was compromised. The hackers used the account to promote a fraudulent memecoin, "STONKS," which was a copy of a Solana-based token. The coin briefly surged to a market value of $123 million before crashing. The incident led to the creation of MyStonks, a decentralized crypto trading platform focused on restoring integrity in Web3. MyStonks CTO demands accountability from Nasdaq regarding the rug pull and aims to expose fraudsters while establishing a gold standard for credibility in the Web3 space. So far, it does not appear that Nasdaq has even issued any official mention of the incident.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
About Nasdaq
Nasdaq is a global financial services company that operates a range of market activities, including the Nasdaq Stock Market, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. It provides trading, technology, and market solutions across various sectors, with a focus on financial services, technology, and economic growth. Nasdaq helps institutions and investors by offering access to capital, market insights, and financial technology solutions. The company supports around 4,000 listings with a combined market value of approximately $14 trillion. Additionally, it offers tools and services to enhance corporate governance, investor relations, and strategic growth for organizations at various stages of development.
About Stonks Meme
The "Stonks" meme features a surreal character known as Meme Man, a 3D-rendered, bald, blue-eyed head, often depicted in internet humor and memes. The meme became widely popular in 2017 when it was paired with a stock photo of a businessman with an upward-trending chart, and the caption "Stonks," a humorous misspelling of "stocks." It is used to represent absurd or illogical financial decisions, often in a humorous context. The meme gained further fame in 2021 when users on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets used it to symbolize the GameStop short squeeze, and Elon Musk also contributed by tweeting "Gamestonk!!" which led to a spike in GameStop's stock price. The "Stonks" meme remains a popular symbol in internet culture, especially related to finance and speculative investments.
The Reality
The Nasdaq Twitter/X account was able to be breached, and the promotion was unrelated to the organization.
The Stonks token was a copy cat and not the official Stonks meme token.
What Happened
The Nasdaq account briefly displayed a tweet promoting a new Stonks token.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| January 22nd, 2025 9:05:00 PM MST | PANewsLab Article | PANewsLab reports that Nasdaq's official X account was allegedly hacked to promote a fraudulent Meme coin. The hacker created a fake X account linked to Nasdaq’s official account and used it to share posts about a newly created Meme coin called "STONKS." This coin appeared to be a copy of a similar one already existing on the Solana blockchain. Despite a market surge where the fraudulent coin's market value hit $80 million, it quickly crashed. The fake account was suspended, and the post was deleted. This incident follows a pattern of high-profile hacks used to promote scam tokens, as seen in previous cases involving celebrities and organizations. |
| January 22nd, 2025 9:33:25 PM MST | Forex Live Article | Forex Live reports that Nasdaq's official X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked and used to promote a fraudulent memecoin called "STONKS." The hacker falsely linked a fake X account as a Nasdaq affiliate and retweeted a post about the token, which was created the same day. Despite the token's fraudulent origins, its market capitalization briefly surged to $80 million before crashing. The STONKS memecoin was a copy of an existing token on the Solana blockchain, which owns the intellectual property of the meme. This hack is part of a broader trend of high-profile X account breaches used to promote scam cryptocurrencies. The misleading post has since been deleted, and the fake account was suspended, but Nasdaq has not yet responded to requests for comment. |
| January 23rd, 2025 2:41:08 PM MST | Finance Magnates Article | Finance Magnates reports that Nasdaq's official X account was hijacked to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency, STONKS, which briefly saw its market cap soar to $123 million before crashing. The hackers linked the coin to a fake Nasdaq affiliate account and retweeted a promotional post for the token, which was quickly removed, and the fraudulent account suspended. This breach is part of a larger trend where hackers exploit high-profile accounts to promote scam cryptocurrencies, especially Solana-based meme coins. The rise of such fraudulent schemes highlights concerns about the vulnerability of social media platforms and the risks posed by memecoins. This incident reflects an ongoing cybersecurity challenge as scammers increasingly target well-known figures and organizations to generate buzz for digital scams. |
| January 29th, 2025 8:00:00 AM MST | Spikers Article Published | Spikers reports that Nasdaq’s official X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency, "STONKS." The hackers took control of the verified account and falsely linked it to the promotion of the memecoin, causing its market value to skyrocket to $123.86 million before crashing. This incident highlights the vulnerability of major institutions on social media platforms. The breach emphasizes the need for strong cybersecurity practices, including comprehensive training, robust social media policies, strong passwords, and two-factor authentication. It also underscores the importance of using security tools like Spikerz to protect social media accounts from similar threats. |
| February 4th, 2025 2:33:00 PM MST | First My Stonks Post Made | The first Twitter/X post on the MyStonks_org account, which represents a community take-over of the original Stonks token. It states "NEW WORLD IS COMING". |
Technical Details
Smart Contract Address: 6NcdiK8B5KK2DzKvzvCfqi8EHaEqu48fyEzC8Mm9pump
Total Amount Lost
According to Spikers, the meme coin reached a market capitalization of $123.86m before crashing.
The total amount lost is unknown.
Immediate Reactions
The incident was reported on multiple news sources, including PANewsLab, Forex Live, Finance Magnates, and Spikers, detailing how Nasdaq's official X account was hacked to promote a fraudulent memecoin called "STONKS." The hackers created a fake Nasdaq affiliate account and used it to retweet a promotional post for the newly launched token. Despite its fraudulent nature, the token's market capitalization briefly surged to as high as $123 million before crashing. The post was quickly deleted, and the fake account was suspended.
Ultimate Outcome
The community ultimately launches a new CTO called MyStonks, a decentralized crypto trading platform focused on transparency and justice within the Web3 space. MyStonks CTO demands accountability from Nasdaq regarding the recent rug pull incident and aims to restore integrity by holding scammers accountable. The platform's mission goes beyond memes, representing a movement to expose fraudsters and establish a gold standard for credibility in Web3. Additionally, the community maintains a reserve fund to support lawsuits against scammers, ensuring that justice is served. MyStonks CTO is dedicated to building a stronger, more trustworthy Web3 ecosystem.
The incident has been claimed to underscore the need for robust security measures such as strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and security tools like Spikerz to protect against similar breaches.
Total Amount Recovered
There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.
What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?
Ongoing Developments
The My Stonks community continues to operate, although the latest meetings appear to be in Chinese.
Individual Prevention Policies
No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.
Platform Prevention Policies
Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.
Regulatory Prevention Policies
No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.
References
- ↑ 纳斯达克官方X账户疑似被黑，用于推广假冒Meme币 - PANews (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Nasdaq’s official X account was seemingly hacked to promote a fake memecoin - The Block (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Stonks - Dexscreener (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Stonks Smart Contract - Solscan (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Stonks Whitepaper (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Nasdaq Homepage (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ It appears NASDAQ's Twitter (X) account was hacked and used to promote memecoin 'STONKS' - Forex Live (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ MyStonks.org - "NEW WORLD IS COMING" - Twitter/X (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Nasdaq's Social Media Hack: A Cautionary Tale - OneSafe (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ Meme Man - Wikipedia (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)
- ↑ My Stonks Homepage (Accessed Mar 12, 2025)