Andy Ayrey, founder of Truth Terminal, recently fell victim to a hack on X (formerly Twitter). His account was exploited to promote a fraudulent token under the ticker symbol "IB." The unauthorized promotion led to the token's valuation climbing rapidly, with the hacker ultimately making substantial profits before a sharp market downturn left investors with major losses.
The hacker used Ayrey's X account to post a contract address for the newly minted IB token, acquiring a 12.5% stake in the token supply. This promotion drew investors into the token, rapidly inflating its market cap to over $25 million. Analysis by DEXScreener indicated that the hacker profited by over $600,000 through this operation, timing a mass sell-off that sent the market cap plummeting by 98% to $500,000.
In a message posted briefly after regaining account access, Ayrey revealed that the hack likely resulted from a SIM swap attack, whereby the hacker compromised his mobile carrier. However, the compromised account continued showing signs of suspicious activity, suggesting full control over it had yet to be restored.
Following the incident, a "community takeover" attempt has been reported, aiming to stabilize the token's value. The token's price showed signs of recovery due to this effort, though the long-term impact of the incident remains uncertain.
Truth Terminal, known for its innovative AI chatbot, has significantly impacted the crypto community, drawing donations and attention from industry leaders. Developed using Anthropic's Claude 3 Opus model, the AI bot engages with users, often providing commentary on the cryptocurrency landscape and even interacting with niche topics. The platform gained traction as a holder of various meme-coins, accumulating over $1 million in crypto donations and attracting figures like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who contributed $50,000 in Bitcoin.
Earlier this month, Truth Terminal also promoted a meme coin known as "Goatseus Maximus" (ticker: GOAT). The Goatseus Maximus token, created by an unknown user on the Solana blockchain, quickly gained traction when the AI bot began promoting it, increasing its market cap from $1.8 million to $300 million. Ayrey clarified that the bot's actions regarding GOAT and other tokens were entirely autonomous, stating that the platform operates independently to engage with various social and financial commentary forms.