{"investigation":{"slug":"vlad","entity_name":"$VLAD","trust_score":0,"severity_base":0,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.55,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Vladhood (ticker VLAD) is a memecoin launched on Robinhood Chain on July 23, 2026, minutes before the hijacked X account of Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev was used to falsely promote it as the chain's official mascot. Robinhood confirmed the account compromise and disavowed any association with the token, and the Robinhood Chain block explorer labeled the contract a potential scam. Reported financial figures for the exploit, a claimed peak valuation, and the token's current market status are inconsistent across sources and could not be fully verified.","sections":[{"content":"On July 23, 2026, the verified X account of Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev was compromised and used to publish a post promoting a new token called Vladhood (VLAD), falsely describing it as the official mascot of Robinhood Chain, the company's Ethereum layer-2 network, which had launched its public mainnet on July 1, 2026. The post included a token contract address and attracted more than 175,000 views in under 20 minutes before users identified it as a scam; it was later removed. Robinhood's communications team confirmed via its own X account that Tenev's account had been compromised and said it was 'working with X to restore access' and that the post had been removed. No comparable post appeared on Robinhood's corporate or Robinhood Crypto accounts. On-chain data indicated the VLAD contract was deployed roughly 46 minutes before the hacked post went live, via a contract named PonsLaunchFactory on Pons, a pump.fun-style launchpad operating on Robinhood Chain; the Robinhood Chain block explorer subsequently labeled the contract a 'potential scam.' On July 28, 2026, Tenev said publicly that a fraudster had 'socially engineered X customer support' to gain access to his account, bypassing two-factor authentication and login notifications, and that the account had since been restored with additional safeguards.","heading":"July 2026 X Account Hijack and Fake Token Launch","sources":[{"url":"https://decrypt.co/374175/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenevs-x-account-hacked-to-shill-fake-vladhood-token","name":"Decrypt — Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev's X Account Hacked to Shill Fake 'Vladhood' Token","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409560/robinhood-ceo-x-account-apparently-hacked-promote-vladhood-memecoin-flagged-scam","name":"The Block — Robinhood CEO's X account hacked to promote Vladhood memecoin flagged as 'scam'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/robinhood-ceo-x-account-hacked-in-apparent-memecoin-scam","name":"Cointelegraph — Robinhood CEO X account hacked in apparent memecoin scam","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/07/29/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenev-says-x-account-was-hacked","name":"The Star (Reuters) — Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says X account was hacked","type":"news_article","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"Reported figures for funds extracted via the fraudulent token vary across outlets and have not been reconciled. On-chain monitor 'MLM' estimated that wallets linked to the exploit withdrew roughly 650 ETH (about $1.2 million to $1.3 million), a figure also cited via Wu Blockchain. Separately, The Defiant and Forklog reported that the token's creator repeatedly invoked a Pons trading-fee-collection function — six times over about two hours — netting approximately 31.6 ETH (about $59,000) plus roughly 72 million VLAD tokens (about 7% of total supply), funneled into three new wallets; it is unclear from available reporting whether this is a subset of the larger 650 ETH estimate or a separately measured amount. The Defiant additionally reported the token briefly reached a $2.6 million valuation with 5,266 holders, and that Uniswap trading volume exceeded $22 million with roughly 85,000 swaps within hours of the hacked post; the $22 million volume figure was corroborated independently in search summaries of The Block and Cointelegraph coverage. Because these figures conflict and have not been reconciled by any single outlet, the exact scale of funds extracted should be treated as unresolved.","heading":"Financial Impact — Conflicting Figures","sources":[{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/robinhood-ceo-hacked-memecoin-grift-still-running","name":"The Defiant — Hacker behind fake Vladhood token still collecting fees after Robinhood CEO's X account hack","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://forklog.com/en/?p=100820","name":"Forklog — coverage of Vladhood/VLAD token hack","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/robinhood-ceo-x-account-hacked-in-apparent-memecoin-scam","name":"Cointelegraph — Robinhood CEO X account hacked in apparent memecoin scam","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"Some secondary sources have claimed the token's valuation peaked near $10 million shortly after the hacked post appeared. This figure could not be confirmed in the retrievable text of reporting from The Block, Decrypt, Cointelegraph, or The Defiant, none of which cite a $10 million peak; The Defiant instead reported a $2.6 million valuation. The blog that appears to be the origin of the $10 million figure returned an error page (HTTP 404) when checked for this investigation and could not be verified. In the absence of a Tier 1 or Tier 2 source confirming a precise peak valuation, the $10 million figure should be treated as unverified and is not attributed here to any specific named outlet.","heading":"Disputed Valuation Peak","sources":[{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/robinhood-ceo-hacked-memecoin-grift-still-running","name":"The Defiant — Hacker behind fake Vladhood token still collecting fees after Robinhood CEO's X account hack","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"In mid-July 2026, before the Tenev incident, the X account of Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky was separately compromised and used to post an AI-generated thread about 'real-world asset tokenization,' as reported by Fortune and crypto.news. Unlike the Vladhood incident, this reporting found no evidence the Chesky compromise was used to promote a token sale, wallet-draining link, or other direct financial scam, and neither X nor Airbnb has publicly disclosed how the account was accessed. No verifiable source establishes a confirmed link, in method or perpetrator, between the Chesky compromise and the later Tenev/Vladhood incident; characterizing the two as part of a single coordinated 'campaign' is not supported by the reporting found during this investigation and should be treated as speculative.","heading":"Related Incident: Airbnb CEO Account Compromise","sources":[{"url":"https://fortune.com/2026/07/16/airbnb-ceo-x-hack-ai-slop-security/","name":"Fortune — Airbnb CEO X hack 'AI slop' security","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://crypto.news/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-confirms-x-hack-after-crypto-tokenization-posts/","name":"crypto.news — Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky confirms X hack after crypto tokenization posts","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"The Vladhood incident occurred against a backdrop of wider reported fraud activity on Robinhood Chain's memecoin-launch ecosystem. Separate reporting described a coordinated scheme involving numerous token launches on Robinhood Chain allegedly amounting to a combined $18.43 million in losses, and reported that a major token-launch platform on the chain was shut down following an internal integrity review. These incidents are reported as distinct from the Vladhood/Tenev account hijack, and the available reporting does not establish that Robinhood or Pons designed or executed the broader schemes.","heading":"Broader Robinhood Chain Memecoin Fraud Pattern","sources":[{"url":"https://forklog.com/en/news/researcher-uncovers-18-million-rug-pull-scheme-in-robinhood-chain","name":"Forklog — Researcher uncovers $18 million rug pull scheme in Robinhood Chain","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://brokerchooser.com/news/robinhood-chain-hit-by-coordinated-token-rug-pulls-worth-1843-million--a1f57400","name":"BrokerChooser — Robinhood Chain Hit by Coordinated Token Rug Pulls Worth $18.43 Million","type":"news_article","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"As of late October 2026, price-aggregator listings for tokens called 'VLAD' or 'Vladhood' are inconsistent and in some cases appear to track different contract addresses. Aggregators including DexPaprika, CoinStats, and Blockspot list divergent prices and different all-time-high dates for assets they each label 'VLAD' or 'Vladhood.' Separate, unrelated tokens using similar names and tickers exist on other chains, including a differently-contracted token also styled '$VLAD' on Solana, increasing the risk of confusion for anyone attempting to identify or trade the specific token tied to the Tenev hijack. A crypto-exchange blog reported that Robinhood has stated Vladhood is not associated with the company or with Tenev. Given these inconsistencies, no reliable current market-capitalization or trading-volume figure can be reported with confidence, and any comparison between a current price and a claimed historical peak should be treated as unverified low-confidence information.","heading":"Current Market Status and Token Identity Confusion","sources":[{"url":"https://www.bitrue.com/blog/where-to-buy-vladhood-vlad-token","name":"Bitrue — Where to Buy Vladhood (VLAD) Token","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://dexpaprika.com/robinhood/token/0x92d176ccbeeffecd8089e841d09ea17b6c22d969","name":"DexPaprika — Vladhood (VLAD) token page","type":"on_chain","credibility":3}],"severity":"low"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2026-07","event":"Robinhood Chain, Robinhood's Ethereum layer-2 network, launches its public mainnet.","source":"The Block","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409560/robinhood-ceo-x-account-apparently-hacked-promote-vladhood-memecoin-flagged-scam","date_evidence":"Robinhood Chain, launched July 1","date_original":"2026-07-01"},{"date":"2026-07","event":"Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky's X account is compromised and used to post an AI-generated thread about crypto tokenization; no token sale or direct financial scam is linked to this compromise.","source":"Fortune","source_url":"https://fortune.com/2026/07/16/airbnb-ceo-x-hack-ai-slop-security/"},{"date":"2026-07-23","event":"The VLAD/Vladhood token is deployed on Robinhood Chain via the Pons launchpad roughly 46 minutes before Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev's X account, which had been compromised, is used to promote it as the chain's official mascot. Robinhood confirms the account compromise and the post is removed.","source":"The Block","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409560/robinhood-ceo-x-account-apparently-hacked-promote-vladhood-memecoin-flagged-scam","date_evidence":"The hack occurred on Thursday, July 23, 2026."},{"date":"2026-07-28","event":"Tenev publicly states that a fraudster socially engineered X customer support to access his account, and that the account has been restored with additional security safeguards.","source":"The Star (Reuters)","source_url":"https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/07/29/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenev-says-x-account-was-hacked","date_evidence":"Reuters report is datelined 'July 28,' and says Tenev spoke 'on Tuesday.'"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://decrypt.co/374175/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenevs-x-account-hacked-to-shill-fake-vladhood-token","name":"Decrypt — Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev's X Account Hacked to Shill Fake 'Vladhood' Token","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20261014015523/https://decrypt.co/374175/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenevs-x-account-hacked-to-shill-fake-vladhood-token","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-14T01:55:23+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409560/robinhood-ceo-x-account-apparently-hacked-promote-vladhood-memecoin-flagged-scam","name":"The Block — Robinhood CEO's X account hacked to promote Vladhood memecoin flagged as 'scam'","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260726040203/https://www.theblock.co/post/409560/robinhood-ceo-x-account-apparently-hacked-promote-vladhood-memecoin-flagged-scam","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-26T04:02:03+00:00"},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/robinhood-ceo-x-account-hacked-in-apparent-memecoin-scam","name":"Cointelegraph — Robinhood CEO X account hacked in apparent memecoin scam","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260820214540/https://cointelegraph.com/news/robinhood-ceo-x-account-hacked-in-apparent-memecoin-scam","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-20T21:45:40+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/07/29/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenev-says-x-account-was-hacked","name":"The Star (Reuters) — Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says X account was hacked","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260728195856/https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/07/29/robinhood-ceo-vlad-tenev-says-x-account-was-hacked","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-28T19:58:56+00:00"},{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/robinhood-ceo-hacked-memecoin-grift-still-running","name":"The Defiant — Hacker behind fake Vladhood token still collecting fees after Robinhood CEO's X account hack","type":"news_article","archive_url":null,"credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://forklog.com/en/?p=100820","name":"Forklog — coverage of Vladhood/VLAD token hack","type":"news_article","archive_url":null,"credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://forklog.com/en/news/researcher-uncovers-18-million-rug-pull-scheme-in-robinhood-chain","name":"Forklog — Researcher uncovers $18 million rug pull scheme in Robinhood Chain","type":"news_article","archive_url":null,"credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://brokerchooser.com/news/robinhood-chain-hit-by-coordinated-token-rug-pulls-worth-1843-million--a1f57400","name":"BrokerChooser — Robinhood Chain Hit by Coordinated Token Rug Pulls Worth $18.43 Million","type":"news_article","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://fortune.com/2026/07/16/airbnb-ceo-x-hack-ai-slop-security/","name":"Fortune — Airbnb CEO X hack 'AI slop' security","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260925085543/https://fortune.com/2026/07/16/airbnb-ceo-x-hack-ai-slop-security/","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-09-25T08:55:43+00:00"},{"url":"https://crypto.news/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-confirms-x-hack-after-crypto-tokenization-posts/","name":"crypto.news — Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky confirms X hack after crypto tokenization posts","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260925060622/https://crypto.news/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-confirms-x-hack-after-crypto-tokenization-posts/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-09-25T06:06:22+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.bitrue.com/blog/where-to-buy-vladhood-vlad-token","name":"Bitrue — Where to Buy Vladhood (VLAD) Token","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://dexpaprika.com/robinhood/token/0x92d176ccbeeffecd8089e841d09ea17b6c22d969","name":"DexPaprika — Vladhood (VLAD) token page","type":"on_chain","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/robinhood-scam-memecoin/","name":"Bitcoin Foundation — Robinhood scam memecoin coverage","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20261014015945/https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/robinhood-scam-memecoin/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-14T01:59:45+00:00"}],"source_tags":[],"addresses":[],"reviewed":true,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-code-investigator","created_at":"2026-07-23T20:28:03.728068+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-01T22:04:04.897+00:00"},"source_quality":{"total":13,"tier1":0,"tier2":3,"tier3":0,"unrated":10},"follower_count":null,"content_updated_at":"2026-11-01T22:04:06.258Z","last_fact_checked_at":"2026-11-01T22:04:05.177Z","fact_check_next_allowed_at":"2026-11-08T22:04:05.177Z","update_next_allowed_at":"2026-11-07T12:19:01.822Z"}