Key highlights:
- Brian Chesky’s X account suffered a hack with bad actors promoting tokenization.
- However, the tokenization post did not “shill” a particular token or project.
- Social media hacks to promote crypto tokens have surged over the last week, with SpaceX and Starlink facing breaches.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has confirmed a security breach on his X account after hackers made a viral post promoting real-world asset tokenization. The now-deleted post did not promote any cryptocurrency token or project, but Chesky confirmed that his followers on the microblogging platform surged after the post.
Tokenization promotion post was the work of hackers, says Chesky
Three days after a post promoting on-chain tokenization went live, Chesky revealed that his X account was hacked. The Airbnb founder diffused the tension with a joke, confirming that the viral post earned him a significant following from the cryptocurrency community.
“To the person who hacked my account earlier this week: thanks for all the new crypto followers,” wrote Chesky. “To my new crypto followers, I’m going to be a very disappointing follow.”
According to a Fortune report, Airbnb viewed the event as a “high-profile compromise” with Chesky recovering the account hours after the post went viral. Chesky is an active X user with over 1.2 million followers, sharing product updates and earnings commentary on the platform.
The now-deleted post presented arguments in favor of tokenized RWAs, tipping the concept as the future of finance. However, the hackers did not promote any platform or cryptocurrency, opting to highlight the upsides of tokenization instead.
Source: Brian Chesky on X
Meanwhile, the post raised suspicion over its authenticity after users pointed to heavy use of AI writing. Accusations of “AI slop” filled the comment section, with Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal highlighting telltale signs that the post was low-effort AI writing.
“CEOs damage trust when they post unfiltered claudeslop,” said communications strategist Cheng Meservey. “It signals low care, absence of craftsmanship, and unclear provenance of ideas.”
Hackers lean on social media hacks to promote fraudulent schemes
This is not the first time hackers have breached social media accounts to promote cryptocurrency concepts and tokens. Only last week, a bad actor hacked SpaceX and Starlink X accounts to promote a memecoin (SCATMAN), selling $135,000 worth of tokens in under an hour, taking advantage of the resurgence of memecoin trading.
In May, Keith Gill, popularly known as Roaring Kitty, lost his X account to bad actors. The bad actors used the account to promote Red Kitten Crew memecoin on Pump.fun, netting $611,000 in a pump-and-dump scheme.
X has introduced a raft of measures to reduce account takeovers and crypto-related scams. However, bad actors rely on phishing emails to steal login credentials, SIM-swap attacks against users, and compromised third-party apps.
Meanwhile, Q2 2026 has set the record for the most crypto hacks despite lower losses for victims. Security analysts point to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the hands of bad actors for the spike in security breaches.
Source:: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Confirms X Account Breach After Tokenization Promotion Post