The official X account for the heavy metal band Metallica fell victim to hackers who took advantage of the breach to promote a Solana token called METAL. Fortunately, Metallica’s team has since regained control of the account and deleted all posts related to the fraudulent token.
On June 26, Metallica’s X account initially posted about the METAL token, claiming it was created in collaboration with Ticketmaster. The token was launched on pump.fun, a token deployer based on the Solana blockchain. However, Ticketmaster did not make any announcements regarding the partnership and did not respond immediately to requests for comments.
Metallica’s posts from their account also mentioned MoonPay, a fintech firm, being involved with the METAL token. However, MoonPay’s president, Keith Grossman, denied this partnership in an X post, stating that MoonPay does not support the METAL token. MoonPay later posted on X, warning users that anyone offering them the METAL token is engaging in scams, referencing Metallica’s famous 1986 album and single, “Master of Puppets.”
Following this, several posts were made in an apparent attempt to attract buyers, claiming that METAL token holders could redeem exclusive items such as free concert tickets, custom gaming consoles, and merchandise. One post even mentioned that the token would offer staking rewards.
According to Dexscreener data, the total value of the METAL token briefly reached $3.37 million just 20 minutes after its launch. However, its value quickly plummeted, with a total market capitalization of only $90,000 within three hours of reaching its peak.
The price of the METAL token has dropped over 97% from its highest point and is now nearly 100% lower than its initial high following Metallica’s account promotion.
It remains unclear how Metallica’s account was hacked, and the band and their management team could not be immediately reached for comment.
Disclaimer: This article has been updated to correct the headline and include information from MoonPay.