Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky confirmed on July 17 that his X (formerly Twitter) account was compromised earlier this week after an unauthorized thread about tokenizing real-world assets briefly appeared and was later removed.
Chesky addressed the incident with a wry post: “To the person who hacked my account earlier this week: thanks for all the new crypto followers. To my new crypto followers: I’m going to be a very disappointing follow.” His message made clear the long thread on blockchain-based tokenization did not reflect his views and was posted by the attacker.
The deleted thread drew attention because it focused on detailed arguments for tokenized real-world assets—blockchain-based ownership and financial market implications—rather than promoting Airbnb’s core business. That unusual content led some observers and outlets to initially treat the posts as genuine commentary from the Airbnb CEO.
According to Fortune, Airbnb treated the compromise as a high-profile breach and worked with X to secure the account. Unlike many recent social-media hacks that immediately push meme coins, fake presales or giveaway links, available reports have not tied Chesky’s incident to any on-chain token sale, wallet-draining link, or direct crypto fraud. Instead, the attack’s danger lay in the potential to mislead followers into believing the company or its CEO had shifted publicly toward tokenization.
The episode comes amid a string of account takeovers used to give criminal schemes instant credibility. This week SpaceX’s X presence was also compromised in an incident tied to the SCATMAN token, and earlier this year hackers used Keith Gill’s verified Roaring Kitty account to promote and dump a Solana-based token—an episode that reportedly inflicted about $2.8 million in trader losses. High-profile accounts remain attractive targets because an established audience can make unfamiliar crypto claims look legitimate.
The Chesky hack underscores a subtle risk: not every account breach pushes an obvious scam link—some aim to seed seemingly thoughtful narratives that can shift market sentiment or lend unwarranted legitimacy to a nascent idea. For crypto traders and followers, the incident is a reminder to verify unusual claims directly with official channels before acting.
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