BREAKDOWN: No, the Twitter Hack Wasn't About Bitcoin

The motivations and implications of a hack that had everyone from Coinbase to Kanye shilling a scam for bitcoin.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Crypto.com.

Today on the Brief:

• Adjustment to bank profits in anticipation of growing debt delinquency
• The lowest decrease in jobless claims since March
• A boost in retail spending

Today’s main discussion: The Great Twitter Hack, feat. Dr. Tom Robinson, chief scientist and co-founder of Elliptic

Wednesday, at around 2:15 p.m. EDT, prominent Crypto Twitter accounts started sharing a similar message about a bitcoin giveaway. A couple of hours later, Elon Musk and Bill Gates were saying they were feeling generous and wanting to give bitcoin away. A couple more hours and every verified blue check mark account on Twitter was taken down.

It was an attack with massive implications, if not much monetary gain.

On this episode NLW breaks down:

• What happened
• Which accounts were impacted
• How much BTC was transferred
• The narrative battle of “bitcoin scam” vs. “Twitter hack”
• Why it might have been a state-sponsored attack
• Why the real intention might have been to discredit Twitter
• Why the (supposed) revelations about Twitter’s administrative tools could end up in a congressional inquiry

Expert commentary provided by Dr. Tom Robinson. Find our guest online:

Elliptic website: Elliptic.co

Twitter: @tomrobin