NBA, NASCAR Official Twitter Accounts Hacked by Crypto Scammers

False Alarm: The NBA and NASCAR are not dipping into cryptocurrency.

At around 2:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, the NBA’s Twitter account announced to its 48.1 million followers that it launched a crypto coin—$NBA Coin—under the Solana network. 

The tweet included an official statement saying the NBA was launching “a groundbreaking digital asset designed to redefine fan engagement, transactions and experiences within the basketball ecosystem.”

The tweet was deleted about five minutes later, and a league source confirmed to Front Office Sports they were hacked. The NBA declined to include any additional comment about the hack.

Official NBA X accounts from other countries, including Spain (402,400 followers) and the UK (102,400 followers) were also hacked and tweeted out the same announcement. Not all official NBA accounts were hacked as the Latin America (795,300 followers) and Philippines (88,000 followers) accounts did not have the tweet posted.

Soon after NBA’s tweet, NASCAR’s official X/Twitter account, which has more than 3.6 million followers, also sent out a similar tweet and attached a statement, announcing $NASCAR coin. 

NASCAR also confirmed to FOS it was hacked. 

Solana is a decentralized blockchain for launching cryptocurrencies, and its native SOL coin is the No. 6 cryptocurrency by market cap.

NBA’s crypto curiosity wouldn’t be a totally new endeavor. In 2021, the NBA launched NBA Top Shot, a blockchain-based platform that allows sports fans to buy, sell, and trade unique versions of officially licensed video highlights.