{"id":43224,"date":"2025-05-27T16:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/?p=43224"},"modified":"2025-05-27T13:35:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T10:35:24","slug":"solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/","title":{"rendered":"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><strong>Solana co-founder Raj Gokal<\/strong> faced an organized social engineering attack. Hackers obtained <strong>Gokal\u2019s passport, email, phone number, and other sensitive<\/strong> information. Moreover, they exposed these data publicly through Migos\u2019 <strong>Instagram account<\/strong>, which has <strong>13 million<\/strong> followers.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The attackers demanded <strong>40 BTC<\/strong> (approximately $4.3 million) from Gokal. Their posts included statements such as: \u201c<strong>You should have paid 40 BTC\u201d and \u201cIt was only 40 BTC\u2026 you should have paid<\/strong>.\u201d Following these threats, the hackers posted a photo of Gokal holding his passport, his personal contact details, and images of an unidentified woman.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Security Alarm in the Solana Ecosystem\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Additionally, they changed <strong>Migos\u2019 Instagram<\/strong> bio. They promoted a new meme coin and shared links directing users to various <strong>Telegram<\/strong> groups. Security experts believe these groups aim to scam users with fake investment promises. <strong>Instagram<\/strong> removed the posts after about <strong>90 minutes<\/strong>, but the content had already reached millions.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Blockchain researcher ZachXBT revealed details of the attack on social media:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThey targeted Gokal\u2019s personal accounts. Using the information they gathered, they tried to extort money from him. It seems when he didn\u2019t pay, they started exposing him. Today, they took over Migos\u2019 account to spread this content.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Meanwhile, <strong>The Rollup co-founde<\/strong>r <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ayyyeandy\/status\/1927208417304760423\"><strong>Andy<\/strong><\/a> claimed that a Solana wallet balance belonging to a person named <strong>\u201cArvind\u201d<\/strong> was also leaked in the posts. However, this person\u2019s identity remains unclear.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8JUST IN: Hackers compromised rapper Migos\u2019 Instagram account to leak Solana co-founder <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rajgokal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@rajgokal<\/a>&#39;s passport, ID, and family pictures.<\/p>\n<p>The materials appear to be KYC images, raising questions about whether the source may be linked to recent <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coinbase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@coinbase<\/a> data breach.<\/p>\n<p>The caption\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wKEVKP1dFi\">pic.twitter.com\/wKEVKP1dFi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SolanaFloor\/status\/1927218068364603677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gokal had warned his followers on X (formerly Twitter) days before the attack:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThey tried to take over my email, social media, Google, and Apple accounts. If you see any suspicious posts about token launches or fundraising, know that it\u2019s not me. Please be cautious.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Solana<a href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/scaramucci-solana-could-become-the-backbone-of-future-finance\/\"><strong> (SOL)<\/strong><\/a> Foundation also issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rajgokal\/status\/1924843729229062402\">official statement regarding the incident:\u00a0<\/a><\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThis attack targeted Raj Gokal\u2019s personal security. The Solana network and its projects were not affected. However, this event reminds everyone operating in the digital asset space to review their security.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The foundation also issued warnings to the community, emphasizing that users should trust only announcements from official channels. Additionally, they recommended basic security measures such as <strong>two-factor authentication, strong passwords<\/strong>, and regular account checks.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"> <em>You can also freely share your thoughts and comments about the topic in the comment section. Additionally, don\u2019t forget to follow us on our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/coinengineernews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>Telegram,\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CoinEngineer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>YouTube<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coinengineers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>Twitter<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0channels for the latest\u00a0<a title=\"News\" href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\">news<\/a>\u00a0and updates.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Solana co-founder Raj Gokal faced an organized social engineering attack. Hackers obtained Gokal\u2019s passport, email, phone number, and other sensitive information. Moreover, they exposed these data publicly through Migos\u2019 Instagram account, which has 13 million followers.\u00a0\u00a0 The attackers demanded 40 BTC (approximately $4.3 million) from Gokal. Their posts included statements such as: \u201cYou should have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":37205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[657,2],"tags":[16529,9323,5476,16534,3419,16533,7466,16531,16527,16532,16530,3794,16528,319,15892],"class_list":["post-43224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-en","category-news","tag-bitcoin-extortion","tag-blockchain-news","tag-blockchain-security","tag-crypto-community-alert","tag-crypto-scams","tag-crypto-wallet-leak","tag-cryptocurrency-hack","tag-digital-asset-security","tag-instagram-hack","tag-meme-coin-scam","tag-migos-instagram-hack","tag-raj-gokal","tag-social-engineering-attack","tag-solana","tag-two-factor-authentication"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal - Coin Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal - Coin Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Solana co-founder Raj Gokal faced an organized social engineering attack. Hackers obtained Gokal\u2019s passport, email, phone number, and other sensitive information. Moreover, they exposed these data publicly through Migos\u2019 Instagram account, which has 13 million followers.\u00a0\u00a0 The attackers demanded 40 BTC (approximately $4.3 million) from Gokal. Their posts included statements such as: \u201cYou should have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Coin Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-27T13:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-27T10:35:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Yeliz Akmaca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Yeliz Akmaca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/\",\"name\":\"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal - Coin Engineer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-27T13:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-27T10:35:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5f900e6c865999388c1ea494e5953442\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"hacks\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Coin Engineer\",\"description\":\"Btc, Coins, Pre-Sale, DeFi, NFT\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5f900e6c865999388c1ea494e5953442\",\"name\":\"Yeliz Akmaca\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b399e2146177639d343205648bae3bdb3cd7bb9d02c7186f71149c7122151b69?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b399e2146177639d343205648bae3bdb3cd7bb9d02c7186f71149c7122151b69?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Yeliz Akmaca\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/author\/cmyelizz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal - Coin Engineer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal - Coin Engineer","og_description":"Solana co-founder Raj Gokal faced an organized social engineering attack. Hackers obtained Gokal\u2019s passport, email, phone number, and other sensitive information. Moreover, they exposed these data publicly through Migos\u2019 Instagram account, which has 13 million followers.\u00a0\u00a0 The attackers demanded 40 BTC (approximately $4.3 million) from Gokal. Their posts included statements such as: \u201cYou should have","og_url":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/","og_site_name":"Coin Engineer","article_published_time":"2025-05-27T13:00:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-27T10:35:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Yeliz Akmaca","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Yeliz Akmaca","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/","url":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/","name":"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal - Coin Engineer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-27T13:00:06+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-27T10:35:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5f900e6c865999388c1ea494e5953442"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hack_ce.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"hacks"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/solana-founder-raj-instagram-hack-40-btc\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"40 BTC demanded from Solana founder: Instagram Hack Scandal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/","name":"Coin Engineer","description":"Btc, Coins, Pre-Sale, DeFi, NFT","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5f900e6c865999388c1ea494e5953442","name":"Yeliz Akmaca","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b399e2146177639d343205648bae3bdb3cd7bb9d02c7186f71149c7122151b69?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b399e2146177639d343205648bae3bdb3cd7bb9d02c7186f71149c7122151b69?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Yeliz Akmaca"},"url":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/author\/cmyelizz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43224"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43228,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43224\/revisions\/43228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}