NBA’s Social Media Hacked, Promoted Fraudulent Crypto Scheme

Hack-a-Silver!

Let's all point and laugh at the NBA, which suffered a humiliating security breach on Tuesday when the league's X account was hacked.

Fans thought Adam Silver was taking desperate measures to generate revenue after the official NBA account posted a message announcing the launch of a crypto asset titled "$NBA Coin."

SALT LAKE CITY - NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talks after the 2023 NBA All Star Game between Team Giannis and Team LeBron at Vivint Arena on February 19, 2023. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

On Tuesday afternoon, multiple reports confirmed that the cryptocurrency promotion was a hacker's stunt, triggering a cascade of breaches that compromised several international NBA accounts, including those for the league's Spain and UK fanbases (via FOS).

The post appeared suspicious, at least to all the eagle-eyed followers capable of pointing out bad formatting on a document. 

Seriously, it looked fake from the jump.

The post's caption read: "The NBA is taking the game to the next level. Introducing $NBA Coin! our official digital asset on Solana, designed to enhance fan engagement and the future of sports transactions."

The NBA's phony post was deleted promptly after posting to the account's 48.1 million followers.

"I didn’t know the NBA ratings were so bad they had to start a Crypto scam," one fan wrote on X.

Additional details from the fake statement read:

"The National Basketball Association (NBA) is proud to announce the official launch of NBA Coin, a groundbreaking digital asset designed to redefine fan engagement, transactions, and experiences within the basketball ecosystem.

"Built on the Solana blockchain, NBA Coin offers lightning-fast transactions, unparalleled security, and seamless