Binance’s newly appointed co-CEO, Yi He, had an unexpected security scare on Dec. 9 after scammers gained access to her old WeChat account an account she no longer used and couldn’t recover. The hackers wasted no time, using her identity to push a little-known memecoin called MUBARA (Mubarakah), triggering a classic pump-and-dump across BNB Chain traders.
How the hack turned into a trading frenzy
According to blockchain sleuth Lookonchain, two newly created wallets quietly accumulated 21.16 million MUBARA tokens for 19,479 USDT roughly seven hours before scam posts appeared from Yi He’s account.
Once the fake endorsements went live, the token exploded from $0.001 to $0.008 within minutes, sending its market cap toward $8 million and pulling in a rush of unsuspecting traders who believed the posts were legitimate.
But as liquidity poured in, the early buyers began to cash out. By early Dec. 10, the attackers had already dumped 11.95 million tokens for 43,520 USDT, leaving behind another 9.21 million tokens worth about $31,000. The scheme netted them an estimated $55,000 profit, not counting the remaining holdings.
Predictably, the price collapsed more than 60% after the selloff. Several analysts on X pointed out wallet activity that hints at front-running, suggesting some traders may have known what was coming before the fake posts went live.
CZ and Yi He respond
Binance founder CZ (Changpeng Zhao) quickly warned users to ignore any messages coming from the compromised account, calling out the weak security standards of traditional Web2 platforms like WeChat.
Yi He confirmed the hack, explaining that the account was tied to an old phone number and could no longer be retrieved. She urged the community to stay away from any token promotions associated with it.
A reminder of how quickly markets can be manipulated
The episode highlights how a single compromised social media account especially one belonging to a high-profile crypto figure can ripple across markets within minutes. With platforms like WeChat still heavily used within China’s trading circles, weak security can become an easy entry point for scammers looking to engineer rapid pump-and-dumps.
