Popular Ethereum restaking protocol, EigenLayer has lost control of its X account to bad actors. According to a report from a popular blockchain security expert, ZackXBT on Friday, the X handle of EigenLayer has been compromised.
More so, the account has been consistently posting a fake airdrop campaign to defraud the community members of the restaking protocol. Across three posts, the hackers promoted a fake Season 2 stakedrop, claiming it belongs to the protocol. Meanwhile, the official Season 2 stakedrop is no longer active as the claiming period has ended.
ZackXBT reported that the attackers deleted the first post shortly after uploading it which indicates that they may have lost control of the account. Consequently, the expert indicated that users should refrain from the malicious link.
So far, a host of reputable firms and individuals across the blockchain and crypto landscape has confirmed the attack. Some of them include DeFiLlama, PeckShieldAlert, Scam Sniffer, and the CISO of Polygon Labs, Mudit Gupta.
The breach on EigenLayer’s X account may have a severe impact on the cryptocurrency market owing to the relevance of the protocol in the industry. A league of individuals may have fallen victim to the phishing links which could in return drain their cryptocurrency holdings.
According to DeFiLlama, EigenLayer is the second largest DeFi protocol on Ethereum with above $11.1 billion in total value locked (TVL). Due to its enormous stature, the protocol has become a major target for hackers.
How A Recent Attack Claimed More than $5.7m from EigenLayer
Recall that in October hackers drained huge funds from EigenLayer. On October 4, 2024, the project team revealed that there was an investigation ongoing about a particular wallet with an unapproved massive selling movement.
As per EigenLayer, the address sold up to 1.6 million EIGNEN, the protocol’s native token worth around $5.7 million. The following day, the protocol through a community update disclosed how hackers initiated the massive sell-off.
The firm narrated that the bad actor breached an email thread involving a transfer of an investor’s assets. However, EignenLayer emphasized that the breach didn’t affect its protocol, stating it had no impact on any on-chain functionality.
Lastly, the protocol assured users that their assets were safe. Despite the turbulence, EIGEN has maintained a steady price rally gaining up to 10% in the last 24 hours.
One of the major drivers of the gain is the market exposure EIGEN gained after top cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance and Coinbase listed the token last month.