Seed phrase exposure led to wallet compromise
Robinhood founder Vlad Tenev’s seed phrase was exposed during a livestream, and hackers quickly took control of the wallet address and related addresses, according to Michael, chief business officer at Token Pocket. Michael wrote on X on July 13 that the attackers used the compromised addresses in a trading scheme that generated about $20 million in volume in less than two hours.
First move centered on the $1 token
Michael said the hackers first bought the $1 token through the controlled address. That was followed by thousands of copycat buyers, pushing the token’s market capitalization from roughly $500,000 to $14 million. The move amounted to a 28x increase, with total trading volume reaching about $20 million within two hours.
Attackers then moved to BNB Chain
After the Ethereum-related addresses were frozen, the attackers shifted to BNB Chain. Using the same wallet cluster, they launched a new token, created the appearance of activity through self-trading, and later dumped the token to cash out, according to the report.
Case highlights basic wallet security risks
Mnemonic phrases are the core credential for crypto wallets and usually consist of 12 or 24 words. Anyone with the phrase can control the assets in that wallet. The report said the incident was not technically complex, but it showed how quickly losses can follow once a seed phrase is exposed.
BlockTempo also said Robinhood Chain has logged more than $4 billion in DEX trading volume and $134 million in total value locked since launch. It added that the leaked wallet was not tied to core assets, but the episode still served as a reminder that on-chain users are responsible for their own security.