Another high-profile incident in the world of cryptocurrencies: attackers gained access to Kylie Jenner's account on social network X and used it to promote a fraudulent memecoin called kylie. The celebrity's audience, numbering 39.5 million followers, became an ideal target for a quick "pump" of the token on the Solana blockchain.
The attack scheme was classic. First, a post about trading appeared in the feed, then followers were redirected to a profile mimicking the Pump.fun platform, with the nickname cutekjenner. The second post published the ticker and token contract address. Both posts managed to gather about 50,000 and 33,000 views respectively before being deleted. Attentive users quickly noticed the unnatural presentation of information and suspected a hack.
Market cap at peak and rapid decline
The hype around the token was impressive. According to tracking services, the market capitalization of kylie on PumpSwap soared to nearly $1.19 million. However, as soon as the posts were deleted, the bubble burst. At the time of the analysis, the market cap had collapsed by about 68% — to $378,500. Meanwhile, the daily trading volume reached $6.1 million, and liquidity held at $58,900. The token was distributed among approximately 3,700 holders.
This incident triggered a wave of imitators. Several tokens with similar names and themes tied to Kylie Jenner immediately appeared on Solana. One of them, with the same profile image, also managed to grow to a $1.04 million market cap, but the rest ranged from a meager $29,800 to $370,300. None of these assets lasted longer than a few hours — a classic sign of scam schemes.
Systemic problem: hacks as a manipulation tool
This attack is not an isolated case, but a troubling trend. In July, hackers already breached SpaceX and Starlink accounts to promote the SCATMAN token, earning about $125,000. At the end of the same month, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev became a victim, whose account was used to advertise the Vladhood token, bringing attackers approximately $1.2 million. There were other high-profile cases: the hack of Senator Cynthia Lummis's account to advertise a fake cryptocurrency called USA, as well as an incident with actor Dean Norris, who publicly disavowed the launch of the DEAN token after his account was compromised.
My analysis: Until major platforms implement multi-factor authentication and strict security protocols for accounts with millions of followers, such scams will keep recurring. Investors should remember a simple rule: if a celebrity suddenly promotes a memecoin — it is almost always a red flag and an attempt at market manipulation.