A hacker took control of the X account of Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, and used it to promote a fake Barron Trump-themed memecoin. The fraudulent project, called $BARRON, quickly surged in market value before crashing within seconds.
World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance project linked to the Trump family, has confirmed that its co founder Zach Witkoff X account has been breached and urged users to ignore the fraudulent posts.
On Wednesday, Witkoff’s compromised X account was used to promote $BARRON, a Solana-based memecoin falsely linked to President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump. The hacker claimed that Trump would soon confirm the token’s legitimacy.
However, according to World Liberty Financial,
“Zach Witkoff’s account was compromised. Please do not engage with any posts promoting this project,” the company posted on X.
The coin briefly reached a market capitalization of $73 million in under ten minutes before suddenly plummeting by 99%. This rapid rise and collapse indicated a “rug pull,” a scam where creators artificially inflate a token’s value before dumping it for profit.
World Liberty Financial, which is launching a macro strategy reserve for crypto, was founded in 2024 and launched its own cryptocurrency, WLFI, in October of the same year. Several members of the Trump family, including Barron Trump, are listed as part of the project’s team.
The $BARRON incident follows a similar scam in January involving a memecoin named after Ivanka Trump. The US president’s daughter publicly distanced herself from the project and warned investors against fraudulent schemes using her likeness.
Memecoins featuring the Trump family have gained traction since Donald Trump announced his own cryptocurrency, Official Trump, on Solana in January. Days later, Melania Trump launched Melania Meme, also on the Solana blockchain.
The rise of celebrity-themed memecoins has raised concerns about misleading promotions and scams in the cryptocurrency market. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) commented on the growing trend, questioning how investors determine the legitimacy of such tokens.
“How does this work? I share my dog’s name and picture, and then people create memecoins?” Zhao wrote on X. “How do you know which one is ‘official’? Or does that even matter?”
According to experts, memecoins have gained popularity due to their viral nature and speculative appeal, but they also pose risks to investors. Many projects lack transparency, and sudden sell-offs, commonly known as “rug pulls,” can lead to significant financial losses.
Despite these concerns, the US SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, in a February 11 interview, stated that most memecoins do not fall under the SEC’s current regulatory framework.
“Many of the memecoins that are out there probably do not have a home in the SEC under our current set of regulations,” Peirce said.
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