Hackers breach cryptocurrency app Blockfolio and send message to all users saying accounts of 'all black people and n******' will be closed 'with immediate loss of funds'
Cryptocurrency portfolio tracker Blockfolio was forced to apologize on Tuesday after its app was hacked and sent push notifications to users announcing the 'closure of all services to black people and n*****s'.
The messages, purporting to be from major cryptocurrency platforms, warned of the 'immediate loss of funds' if black people did not withdraw from the app immediately on Monday night.
Screenshots shared to social media showed the messages containing racial slurs, as well as others that read 'best child porn is available here' and a link.
The FTX-owned app said Tuesday that the breach had been in the news and signal feeds and that its other services remained intact, as they apologized and blamed the breach on the actions of a competitor.
Blockfolio users were sent different versions of this push notification on Monday night that announced the 'closure of our services to all black people and n*****s'. The company claimed in its apology on Tuesday that they had been hacked by a competitor who sent the messages
The hack also altered the names of some of the currencies, changing them to 'n****coin'
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said the app was taken offline as the company 'completely purged all of the offensive content from the system' in an apology on Twitter
'We are incredibly sorry about the offensive messages posted today,' the company said in a statement posted to Twitter in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
'No funds/etc. were affected; this did not interact with any trading features.'
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried apologized and blamed the hack on a competitor
Blockfolio said that it had since removed all the messages and revoked access to the notification system Signal for the compromised account.
The offending push notifications were attributed to Jason Hamlin, who provides ecosystem insights at Blockfolio, according to Newsweek.
He tweeted his own apology on Tuesday, as well as retweeting the statement from Blockfolio.
'It looks like a Blockfolio marketing account was hacked and someone posted disgusting and offensive things under my name,' he wrote.
'This obviously was not me nor anyone at Blockfolio and does not impact security of funds in any way. The team is working diligently to correct the matter.
'This compromise impacted token tracking listings and limited areas of communications but is separate from Blockfolio/FTX trading accounts.'
Blockfolio explained the hack on Tuesday and apologized for the messages
It said that it is offering $10 free credit to traders on the app as an apology
The offending push notifications were attributed to Jason Hamlin, who provides ecosystem insights at Blockfolio. He also apologized on Twitter on Tuesday, as pictured above
Blockfolio appeared to be down after the posts were shared but the tracking parts of the app were quickly brought back online.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said the app was taken offline as the company 'completely purged all of the offensive content from the system'.
'We have spent the last four hours investigating every angle and tracking down leads; we're relieved to say that we've figured out what happened,' he wrote.
'This offensive content was produced and published by a competitor exchange of ours who maliciously gained access to someone else's Blockfolio News/Signal capabilities.
=CEO Sam Bankman-Fried condemned the 'hateful sentiments expressed by the competitor'
Blockfolio co-founder Edward Moncada also confirmed the breach, adding that they had 'disabled the account to investigate', as pictured in the tweet above
'We condemn their actions in the strongest way possible,' he added.
'We have always and will always strive to work with others in the industry - whether customers, builders, or competitors. We will rise and fall together, and this industry has no place for this behavior.
'But much more strongly, this industry - and this world - has no place for the racist and hateful sentiments expressed by the competitor. We deeply apologize for all who were exposed to it.'
It is not known which competitor he was referring to.
Blockfolio co-founder Edward Moncada also confirmed the breach, adding that they had 'disabled the account to investigate'.
'Some token tracking listings & Blockfolio signal comms were impacted. All Blockfolio user data is safe as well as user trading accounts & funds (handled separately by FTX),' he added.
'Of course, we want to extremely apologize for the racist slurs that came from the compromised account. They in no way reflect the views of our company.'
Blockfolio is one of the most popular crypto apps and has six million users
Some users were still angered with one posting on Twitter that 'a simple sorry ain't cutting it'
CEO Bankman-Fried added on Tuesday that he would be leading a review into what led to the breach, as he also apologized for the messages.
'Over the next month, I'll be leading a security review of the old, non-trading-related parts of Blockfolio to bring them in line with the standards set by trading and by FTX more generally,' he said.
'We're giving $10 to every [user] trading in Blockfolio, and the next ones who sign up this week.'
Some users were still angered, however, with one posting on Twitter that 'a simple sorry ain't cutting it'.
'The fact that I had to dig up your Twitter to find a half a****d apology is pathetic,' wrote another under the username @computrdata.
Others rushed to Blockfolio's defense.
'You act like they themselves wrote the racist stuff,' wrote Twitter user Carlson Strong.
'Stop throwing a pity party and get over it. Blockfolio isn't racist, they apologized and have corrected the mistake.'
Blockfolio is one of the most popular crypto apps and has six million users. It was acquired by FTX last August in an $150million deal.
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