Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, reported that the WeChat account of the newly appointed co-CEO Yi He was hacked on Tuesday night, leading to the promotion of a lesser-known memecoin. This breach resulted in a pump-and-dump scheme that caused the asset’s price to skyrocket on certain decentralized exchanges.
Zhao indicated that the attackers exploited the hacked account to disseminate endorsements for the memecoin and advised users to disregard those messages.
“The security on Web2 social media platforms isn’t robust. Stay safu!” he posted on X. “Avoid buying meme coins based on posts from hackers.”
Loading…
Yi He explained that she no longer uses WeChat and that the account’s associated phone number was compromised, which has hindered her from recovering access.
This hack occurred just days after Binance announced Yi He’s promotion to co-CEO during the firm’s Blockchain Week.
On-chain activity reveals that the hack swiftly transitioned from a social-engineering incident to a trading exploit.
Analytics account Lookonchain found two new wallets that amassed approximately 21.16 million MUBARA tokens—a relatively unknown memecoin on decentralized exchanges—by spending 19,479 USDT through PancakeSwap and other routes.
As the false endorsements circulated on WeChat, trading volume and prices surged dramatically on Dexscreener charts.
The wallets then began to sell off their holdings as fresh liquidity flowed in.
According to Lookonchain, the attacker has already liquidated 11.95 million MUBARA for 43,520 USDT and still possesses 9.21 million tokens valued at around $31,000, resulting in a profit of nearly $55,000 with remaining inventory still to sell.
This incident reflects a typical exploit pattern where early purchase triggers retail demand through a compromised high-profile account, followed by sales during the surge. Late traders, responding to what seemed to be an endorsement from a prominent Binance executive, were caught off guard as prices plummeted almost immediately after selling began.
Binance has not provided any additional comment beyond Zhao and Yi He’s warnings.
