Crypto enterprise capital agency a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) has regained management of its official X account after hackers briefly took it over to advertise a fraudulent token.
On June 18, 2025, the official X account of a16z was compromised, granting unauthorized entry to malicious actors who used the platform to advertise a faux Solana-based token underneath the identify “$a16z.”
The breach lasted for a quick interval, throughout which the attackers posted malicious hyperlinks and false promotions to the account’s viewers of over 850,000 followers.
One of many posts falsely claimed, “It’s Official: $a16z Launches Its Own Token. Today marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of crypto @solana,” alongside a pockets deal with used to bait customers into shopping for.
A number of different posts pushed faux giveaways and guarantees of free tokens, together with one claiming a $5 million airdrop, all designed to lure unsuspecting customers into participating with the compromised content material. On-chain information revealed that the fraudulent token briefly pumped in worth following the posts, earlier than crashing practically 90% in a typical pump-and-dump sample.
a16z regained management of the account shortly after and swiftly deleted the fraudulent content material. In an announcement, the agency confirmed the breach was restricted to its X account and reassured customers that not one of the promotions got here from them.
“Earlier today, our X account was briefly compromised. During that time, the account promoted a token and other fake content— none of which originated from a16z. Apologies for any confusion caused by the clowns who temporarily took over our account,” the assertion learn.
The agency’s response acquired combined reactions from followers, with many elevating issues concerning the account’s safety. Some customers claimed to have fallen sufferer to the scheme and known as on the agency to situation refunds.
This isn’t the primary time an a16z-affiliated account has been focused. Again in February, the private X account of a16z founder Chris Dixon (Shaw) was equally compromised and used to advertise a faux mission. On the time, the co-founder described the breach as fastidiously deliberate and apologized to these affected by the scheme.