Vivek Ramaswamy’s X account allegedly hacked, prompts regular price hike

Reports have emerged that hackers compromised the X account of newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy.

The attack sparked a whirlwind of misinformation and market frenzy surrounding the four-month-old USUAL stablecoin project.

False claims drive market activity

It started with a now-deleted post initially thought to be Ramaswamy’s, announcing a “strategic partnership” with USUAL that would leverage cryptocurrency to help reduce the federal government’s fiscal deficit.

“By integrating innovative financial solutions and improving the efficiency of government transactions, we believe this partnership will not only promote fiscal responsibility but also foster greater financial inclusion,” the publication said.

However, more than 40,000 views later, the tweet was removed, and prominent fund manager James Fishback claimed to have spoken to Ramaswamy, who informed him that it had been hacked. “He’s locked out of his account. This is a scam,” Fishback clarified, referring to the post.

However, the fake announcement seemed to have served its purpose, with its USUAL name causing the project’s governance token to rise dramatically. Data from CoinGecko shows that the cryptocurrency surged to an all-time high (ATH) of $1.61 shortly after Vivek’s fake post, boosting its market cap to nearly $745 million.

At the time of writing, it had rebounded to $1.48, which, while 8.4% below the ATH, was still a 29.3% improvement in 24 hours. Additionally, the token experienced an increase in trading volume, recording $1.7 billion worth of transactions since yesterday.

The rally also came on the back of USUAL’s stablecoin, Usual USD (USD0), which crossed the $1 billion mark to reach a market cap of $1.2 billion. The jump was triggered by the issuer’s announcement that it would diversify the asset’s reserves to include a pair of new virtual currencies, including Athena’s USDtb and UsualM, an extension of the $M stablecoin.

The DOGE initiative is drawing attention from the crypto community

Ramaswamy’s hack has put the spotlight on DOGE, an initiative the biotech entrepreneur runs alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk. While the project’s stated mission is to reduce red tape and optimize federal spending, its acronym and association with Musk has fueled speculation in the crypto community about possible involvement with digital currencies.

The owner of X is a known supporter of Dogecoin (DOGE), and several of his past pronouncements have led to sharp spikes in the price of the meme coin, a factor that could have played into the hands of the alleged hacker if he had been looking. benefit from an increase in the value of USUAL.

At the time of going to press, Ramaswamy had not made any statement regarding the alleged infringement.

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