NEAR Protocol’s X account hacked, here’s what we know so far

NEAR Protocol’s X account with over 1.9 million followers has been posting encrypted messages over the past few hours, sending a dark vibe through the community.

The first encrypted message on NEAR Protocol’s X page was posted at 18:18 UTC on May 8. The message which looks similar to Morse code says “Darkness is coming” when decoded. 

Despite the dark vibe of the message, the marketing and events lead at NEAR Foundation, Yadira Blocker, replied to the encrypted audio with “Something is cooking.”

In another X post, Blocker said that “alpha is coming.”

Moreover, NEAR Protocol’s X account shared a few posts in Zalgo text — a glitch-styled text created in 2004 usually used to show hacker activity and breaches. The last four X posts by the official NEAR Protocol page say: 

• The sun rises in the east.
• Take back your thoughts.
• Darkness.
• Reclaim your sovereignty.

While some X users believe the NEAR Protocol X account could have been breached, the company hasn’t shared any notices or warnings. NEAR Foundation also didn’t share anything regarding the encrypted messages.

Last month, Spider-Man actor Tom Holland’s X account was hacked to promote a crypto scam token called SPIDER. On March 20, hackers breached Trezor’s X account and pushed a phony Solana-based cryptocurrency called TRZR.