Hackers Steal $600,000 by Exploiting Truth Terminal Account to Promote Fake Memecoin

Hackers exploited the X (formerly Twitter) account of Ayrey, the developer behind the AI-powered Truth Terminal, to shill a fraudulent memecoin, raking in more than $600,000. On Oct. 29, the compromised account announced the release of a new token, Infinite Backrooms (IB), which briefly surged to a $25 million valuation. However, data from Dexscreener shows that the wallet linked to the launch sold 124.6 million IB tokens shortly after purchase, profiting $602,500 within 45 minutes.

The account remains under the hackers’ control, as additional posts promoting fake memecoins and links to Telegram groups have continued. Truth Terminal, an AI bot trained on Meta’s Llama 3.1 model and known for its involvement in the rise of the Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) memecoin, operates semi-autonomously, with Ayrey overseeing its posts. GOAT, which reached a market cap of $940 million, currently trades at $637 million.

Despite no direct involvement in launching GOAT, Truth Terminal’s endorsement fueled its popularity. Initially, the bot gained attention in July when it received $50,000 in funding from a16z founder Marc Andreessen to upgrade its capabilities and explore cryptocurrency.

This incident underscores the risks tied to autonomous agents in crypto, as Truth Terminal’s journey has sparked a trend of similar AI-driven agents posting and trading on social media.