Advertisement
Watcher.Guru, a well-known cryptocurrency news outlet, has confirmed that its official X account was hacked, leading to the spread of false information about a supposed partnership between Ripple and SWIFT. The misleading post, which falsely claimed that SWIFT was on the verge of finalizing a deal to use XRP for cross-border payments, quickly circulated on social media, potentially influencing market sentiment around XRP.
The breach occurred on March 21 at approximately 2:05 AM UTC, when an unauthorized post appeared on Watcher.Guru’s X account. The fake news was automatically shared across the platform’s other social media channels, including Telegram, Facebook, and Discord, due to a cross-platform content bot.
Realizing the breach, Watcher.Guru swiftly deleted the misleading post and issued a clarification, emphasizing that the report was false and did not come from their editorial team.
“Our X account has been hacked,” the outlet announced in a follow-up post. “We have 2FA enabled and have taken extreme measures to avoid hacks.”
Despite their security precautions, the attack still managed to bypass protective measures. The team is currently working with X support to trace the source of the breach and prevent similar incidents in the future.
Watcher.Guru suspects that the hack may be linked to a suspicious link shared in their Telegram group on March 5. The link contained an unusual “token” query string, which raised suspicions in hindsight. However, it remains unclear whether this link was directly responsible for the attack.
In an attempt to escalate the issue, the team tried to contact X’s head of cybersecurity, @cstanley, but received no response.
Interestingly, Watcher.Guru noted that a similar attack previously targeted DB News, another crypto media outlet, indicating a possible trend of hackers going after influential news platforms—even those with two-factor authentication enabled.
This incident highlights a growing trend of cyberattacks on crypto-focused social media accounts, often used to manipulate markets and promote fraudulent schemes.
In February, luxury fashion brand Dior’s Instagram account was hijacked to push a fake Solana-based meme coin, which briefly reached a market cap of $280,000 before crashing by 90%.
Just last week, Kaito AI, an AI-driven crypto market analysis platform, and its founder Yu Hu, were targeted in a social media hack on X. The attackers falsely claimed that Kaito AI’s wallets had been compromised, warning users that their funds were at risk.
The rise in social media hacks is part of a larger surge in cyberattacks on the crypto ecosystem. In February 2025, the total reported losses from hacks and exploits increased nearly 20 times compared to the previous month, according to a report from blockchain security firm Immunefi.
While January 2025 saw losses of approximately $73.9 million, that figure skyrocketed to $1.52 billion in February due to nine major security breaches. This February total was also 18 times higher than the losses reported in the same month the previous year.
As cybercriminals continue to find new ways to exploit social media platforms, crypto companies and influencers are under increasing pressure to strengthen their security measures and stay vigilant against potential threats.