Near Protocol’s X page was apparently breached by hackers who seemed uninterested in promoting sham airdrops or rug pulls.

On Sept. 4, bizarre posts were seen published from the X account of layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain, Near protocol (NEAR). 

Account hijacks like this are common in cryptocurrency, with bad actors often targeting decentralized finance protocols. Typically, hackers leverage compromised access to launch phishing campaigns and steal funds.

However, the Near Protocol hacker deviated from this pattern, instead posting a series of anti-crypto messages aimed at crypto users and the heart of web3.

Delete your X account, go outside, and pick a normal life, you manlets. There is 0 good to come of this. Trust me.

Unknown Near Protocol hacker

At the time of writing, unknown individuals still controlled Near’s X page and continued to criticize the $2 trillion cryptocurrency ecosystem and its underlying blockchain industry. This marks the second time the L1’s X account has been hacked this year, following a previous incident in May.

While seemingly different from other breaches, Near Protocol ranked among a growing list of DeFi and crypto-related projects that have suffered hacks.

According to Coin Insider Daily, X accounts belonging to members of the Trump family were recently used in a scam promoting a Solana-based (SOL) memecoin. In late August, football star Kylian Mbappe’s likeness was used to steal over $1 million from crypto traders.

Hackers have also hijacked accounts owned by heavy metal band Metallica, Frax Finance founder Sam Kazemian, and pseudonymous crypto trader GCR.