Cryptic NEAR Protocol X Posts Raise Hack Suspicions

cryptonews.com:

Morse code, cryptic messages, and a redesign of NEAR Protocol’s X profile have left users concerned that they have been hacked.

On May 8th, NEAR Protocol’s official X handle began to post a series of cryptic tweets and messages which left the crypto community puzzled. The unusual behavior started with a 28-second-long video containing a Morse code message.

Once decoded, the message read, “Darkness is coming.”

pic.twitter.com/jzosIuLJpI

— N̷̢̒E̶̳̎Ą̷͌R̴̳͝ (@NEARProtocol) May 8, 2024

Two hours after the tweet, NEAR’s X account sent out four consecutive tweets using hard-to-read gothic fonts, commonly used by heavy metal bands.

The tweets contained more concerning messages like “the sun rises in the east,” “take back your thoughts,” “darkness” and “reclaim your sovereignty.”

r̴͖̳͙͂̽e̵̙̯̙͚͙̳͚̍͑́͌̓̒͘ć̵̺̯͚͛̕̕ͅl̵̻͉̱͙̰̞̹̈́̇̋͜a̸̯͂̌̓̌̕͠ȉ̷̡͇͖̖͇͖̠̺̔̊͆̃̕͝m̶̠̀͑͗ͅ ̴̠͇̹̩̬͆̾̎̔̋̇̓ͅy̵͔̬̣̋̇̒͌̕o̸̡̘̩̮̦̽̓̓̈́̔͐ͅu̶̢̙̳͓̹̮̝̓̂͆r̸̰̠̣͎͖̀ ̴̱̥̠̖̙̓̽̄͊̔̚ş̴̛͉̻̯̰̲͓̇̈͑̈́͜o̶͍͋̈͌̚͝v̵̧̡̝̘̫̍̑̈͝͠e̶̪͕̻̼̓͐r̴̬̔͛͂e̷̢̥̘̩̽̒̈́̇͛̔ȋ̸̲̼̈̋́̋̎̔ͅg̶̬̰͔͓͓̼̖̀̎̆̈̽͘n̸̠͉͊̇̎̓̈́́͝t̵͈̙̫̂̇̓͗̀̈́y̶̨̥̰̣̙͂̈

— N̷̢̒E̶̳̎Ą̷͌R̴̳͝ (@NEARProtocol) May 8, 2024

This culminated in a complete visual redesign of NEAR’s X profile. Their banner and profile picture were changed to solid black.

Additionally, NEAR’s display name and description were also changed to match the mysterious theme of the tweets, simply reading “dark.”

The posts are not on-brand compared to NEAR’s past communications. Something that has prompted the crypto community on X and blockchain investigators to suspect a possible hijack.

However, a handful of the protocol’s supporters see the tweets as a sign of something bigger coming to the ecosystem. Though the post’s intended meaning is unclear, users generally agree to proceed with caution.