Solana

The official X account for heavy metal band Metallica was hacked, with the exploiters using the breach to promote a Solana token with the ticker METAL.
Metallica’s team appears to have regained control of the account and has deleted all posts mentioning the token.
Metallica’s X account first posted about the token in a June 26 <a href="https://x.com/Metallica/status/1805757391977464275" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">post</a>, claiming it was made in partnership with Ticketmaster. It was launched on the Solana-based token deployer pump.fun.&nbsp;
Ticketmaster did not make an announcement about the partnership and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-06/04a4d75b-38a8-49b0-b872-ed0edc2b4c35.png" alt="" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://x.com/Metallica/status/1805755732895449102" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Metallica</a>
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Posts from Metallica’s account claimed&nbsp;fintech firm MoonPay was involved with the token, which MoonPay president Keith Grossman dismissed in an X post, saying: “MoonPay does NOT support METAL.”
MoonPay later <a href="https://x.com/moonpay/status/1805771261466890290" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">posted</a> on X: “If someone is offering you a METAL token, they are not the master of puppets — they’re the master of scams!” referencing the band’s hit 1986 album and single.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-06/abcc2682-7ab8-4411-8d4f-3f3ee4b9dcf8.png" alt="" title="">
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 Source: <a href="https://x.com/KeithGrossman/status/1805765158553219233" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Keith Grossman</a>
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A series of subsequent posts in an apparent attempt to drum up buyers claimed users could cash in their METAL tokens to redeem exclusive items, including “free concert tickets,” custom gaming consoles and merchandise.
One <a href="https://x.com/Metallica/status/1805763687845662835" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">post</a> even claimed the token would have staking rewards.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-06/bb4a23fe-7af5-4c21-845c-d48bd0dc4865.png" alt="" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Metallica’s X account claimed the METAL token could be used to access custom gaming consoles. Source: <a href="https://x.com/Metallica/status/1805761207707877817" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Metallica</a>
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The total value of the METAL token reached a brief peak of $3.37 million roughly 20 minutes after it was launched, <a href="https://dexscreener.com/solana/HqAwjJHKutX3YAyMP3yc1XvSgny1XD9NKKL6dPvw2Ft" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">according</a> to Dexscreener data.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-hacks-19-billion-13-years">Crypto hacks soar to $19B in 13 years: Crystal Intelligence </a>
The value of the METAL token has since plummeted, falling to a total market capitalization of $90,000 less than three hours after it hit its peak.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-06/0789a83e-2790-4034-9bd5-8d87cfe66b30.png" alt="" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 METAL’s price has sunk over 97% from its peak. Source: DEX Screener
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Its price has also sunk nearly 100% from its high, which it hit shortly after Metallica’s account shared the token.
It’s unclear how Metallica’s account was breached. The band and its management team could not be immediately contacted for comment.
Crypto-Sec: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-sec-11m-bittensor-phished-22m-lykke-hack-uwu-lend-exploits-deepfake-scam/">$11M Bittensor phish, UwU Lend and Curve fake news, $22M Lykke hack</a>
Update June 26, 3:20 am UTC: This article has been updated to amend the headline and add information from MoonPay.

Metallica’s X account hacked to promote crypto token

Cointelegraph

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