NEAR Protocol sparked controversy today when it appeared to confirm that an alleged hack that saw its X (formerly Twitter) account hijacked was actually a marketing stunt to promote its upcoming [REDACTED] hackathon.
On Wednesday, NEAR officials posted a message to X that stated, “On September 4th, at approximately 14:25 EST, the NEAR Protocol X account was hijacked.”
It continued, “A series of posts were made which, upon initial review, seemed to be an attempt to dissuade, demotivate, and criticize the NEAR and wider Web3 ecosystems, with a particular focus on slandering the upcoming flagship event [REDACTED], Nov 9-11, Bangkok.”
It then went on to reaffirm the company’s commitment to ‘digital sovereignty,’ and speculate that the attack could have been the work of “notorious hacker Four Chan.”
However, suspicions were aroused by the statement’s inclusion of a quote from security expert ‘Mike Rotch’ and its frequent plugging of the aforementioned hackathon. Crypto Twitter called bullshit.
“We wish you were actually hacked so we wouldn’t have had to read this,” wrote one frustrated user while another moaned, “Classic ‘we got hacked’ engagement farming. Only thing is still nobody cares about NEAR Protocol.”
Others, however, took the hack claims more seriously, questioning the wisdom behind a PR campaign like this given NEAR and the wider industry’s already patchy reputation when it comes to scams and hacks.
“Pretending that your socials have been hacked in order do a 4chan/Max Headroom style gimmick doesn’t make you marketing savvy, it makes you dumb as fuck for normalizing breaches,” wrote X user @functi0nZer0.
“Please strap everyone involved in this into a Clockwork Orange chair for 10 years of Killer Whales,” they added.
Further criticism came from @nft_dreww who pointed out, “Yeah this isn’t the way to ‘market,’ fam. Your discord was ACTUALLY compromised not too long ago, and faking a hack isn’t something to do in Web3.
“I sincerely hope you reconsider this ‘marketing’ as this is now the second time you’ve done this…”
This is likely a reference to a series of cryptic messages that appeared on the protocol’s X account in May.
All eyes on NEAR… For once
Despite the online backlash, the stunt won more than a few fans. Indeed, many X users took to the platform to praise the “nice PR stunt,” claim the campaign is “best content to have ever existed on your profile,” and even call for the ‘hacker’s’ reinstatement.
At this point, whether or not NEAR was ever really hacked, whether or not the campaign is likely to do any real damage to its reputation or the wider industry, or if it was a fair thing to do to already skittish users doesn’t really matter.
All’s fair in love and marketing and, as pointed out by @penguinpecker1, “Whether it was intentional or not. It’s the most attention NEAR ever got.”
