Adin Ross claims alleged prison-based attempt to hack his crypto wallet

Markets 2026-01-09 09:55

Twitch streamer Adin Ross revealed that Luigi Mangione allegedly attempted to hack his cryptocurrency wallet from prison. 

Adin Ross is a bit of a controversial figure in the cryptocurrency space after being involved in a memecoin scandal early in 2025. He is now claiming that his cryptocurrency wallet was almost compromised in a bid to promote yet another memecoin.

Was Adin Ross’ crypto wallet hacked?

Popular Twitch streamer Adin Ross has made surprising allegations that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, attempted to hack into his cryptocurrency wallet.

According to Ross, the alleged incident occurred while Mangione was already in prison, and his apparent goal was to drop a memecoin using the wallet after gaining access.

In a clip shared on the social media platform X, Ross initially stated that Mangione tried to hack into one of his crypto wallets. However, he quickly added that it probably wasn’t him and also slapped on the disclaimer “allegedly” to his claims.

High-profile individuals with large social media followings, like Ross, are particularly attractive targets for hackers looking to exploit the trust of their audiences for quick financial gains through pump-and-dump schemes involving memecoins.

Ross was involved in a major memecoin scandal with FaZe Banks in January 2025. The MLG Coin (360noscope420blazeit) crashed from a $150 million market cap to near-zero, causing FaZe Banks to step down as CEO. He blamed Ross for being a “bad actor” who used the coin as “exit liquidity,” but Ross has denied any involvement in a rug pull.

Ross has also been promoting crypto casinos to his young audience, who, in turn, are losing their substantial savings to these platforms. Some teenagers are even taking out loans to chase losses after watching high-stakes gambling on platforms like Stake.

Can crypto wallets be hacked?

Bad actors can hijack crypto wallets via different routes. Cryptopolitan has reported on several episodes of phishing attacks, malware, social engineering, and exploiting vulnerabilities in wallet software targeting institutional-grade and retail-level users.

Bybit, a large cryptocurrency exchange, also fell victim to hackers on February 21, 2025. The exchange suffered losses of up to $1.5 billion in Ethereum. To end the year, Upbit, one of South Korea’s largest exchanges, also lost close to $30 million to hackers.

Memecoin scams typically involve creating a cryptocurrency token with little to no actual utility, then using social engineering or compromised accounts to promote the coin to unsuspecting investors.

For instance, multiple Luigi Mangione-themed memecoins were created following his arrest, with one reaching a market cap of $77 million shortly after he was taken into custody. These coins were launched on the Solana blockchain and currently trade around $0.0003-$0.0005 with market caps in the hundreds of thousands.

If the hack on Ross’ account were true, an endorsement of the LUIGI coin would be enough to make it do wild numbers again.

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This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

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