The influencer says hackers also infiltrated into his Substack and started emailing his 16,000 subscribers, adding: "Trust I've worked over a year to build was gone."
A crypto influencer says he's lost a "life-changing" chunk of his net worth after a devastating hack "violated" his digital livelihood.
On Twitter, NFT God revealed that he had inadvertently clicked on a sponsored Google Ads link for video streaming software that turned out to be malware, adding:
"Every channel I have with my community, friends, and family was compromised over the last 24 hours. My Twitter, Substack, Gmail, Discord, and wallets were all invaded and taken over by bad actors. Significantly less important than all of that I lost all of my digital assets."
A flurry of scam tweets were posted by the hackers — but the nightmare for NFT God was only just beginning.
NFT God soon realized that his Bored Ape had been stolen from under his nose, and was now listed as having a different owner on OpenSea.
"I sat on the couch numb. I knew this was only the beginning. This wasn't a wallet compromise. My entire digital livelihood was under attack."
He described battling to reset his passwords and wipe his computer, but the damage had already been done — and by morning, things were even worse. Emails from his Substack were now being sent to 16,000 subscribers, and "was now at risk of being destroyed."
"The hackers sent two emails to my 16,000 closest fans with hacked links. Trust I've worked over a year to build was gone. Losing a chunk of my net worth is nothing compared to losing the trust of my community."
According to NFT God, he was willing to lose his NFTs and ETH "100 times over" if this meant that his community was left uncompromised.
He said his heart "raced like a Ferrari" as he fought to beef up security and try to let his supporters know what had happened — and after a stressful 10 hours, NFT God said that he now believes the worst may be finally over.
"Losing this account and the community I built would be a nightmare to me. Money is replaceable. My brand and community isn't."
What Happened?
NFT God said that he made a "critical mistake" when it came to storing his digital assets — as his Ledger had been set up as a hot wallet rather than a cold wallet. (Cold storage means that it isn't connected to the internet.)
However, the influencer believes that the outcome could have ended up being the same, adding:
"Not buying a new cold wallet immediately was a deadly mistake. But even with a cold wallet, my entire digital world would still be destroyed. Digital security isn't just buying a cold wallet. It's also being careful with EVERYTHING you do on the internet. Everything."
NFT God is trying to be philosophical about what happened — and says he's trying to move past it because "no amount of emotional turmoil will fix what happened," writing:
"I'm almost grateful for how instantly violent and final this hacking was."
He's now vowing to "work endlessly to build back trust" — and said that, despite the fact he's a "God" in his Twitter handle, he makes mistakes quite often.
"Nothing good comes from ruminating on anything, both positive and negative. Almost everything I hold valuable was violated last night. Letting these thoughts run my life could only destroy me."
NFT God isn't the first high-profile crypto influencer to fall victim to such a scam, nor will he be the last. It's a painful reminder to stay safe online — and shows that, no matter how tech-savvy and knowledgeable about the industry you are, everyone's a target.
