--- title: "The Most Famous NFT Artist Got Hacked, Ripping Off His Followers" description: "After selling an NFT for a cool $69.3 million (nice) last year, digital artist Beeple has fallen victim to hackers." date: "2022-05-24" modified: "2022-05-24" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/beeple-hack-theft" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" - "NFTs" tags: - "cryptocurrency" - "digital art" - "ethereum" - "hackers" - "nfts" - "phishing" - "the digest" --- # The Most Famous NFT Artist Got Hacked, Ripping Off His Followers ![After selling an NFT for a cool $69.3 million (nice) last year, digital artist Beeple has fallen victim to hackers.]() *\Image: Beeple/Futurism\* ## Wake Up, Beeple After [selling an NFT for a cool $69.3 million]() — sigh, [nice]() — last year, digital artist Mike "Beeple" Winkelmann has fallen victim to hackers who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crypto and NFTs from his followers. As [first noted by crypto security analyst Harry Denley](), it appears that the miscreants made off with approximately $438,000 in assets after hacking the artist and directing his more than 673,000 Twitter followers to a phishing scam masquerading as a fake collaboration between the artist and Louis Vuitton. Though it only took about five hours for Beeple to regain control of his account, the hackers absconded with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of digital goods, Denley noted in his thread about the hack. After tweeting that he'd regained access to his account, [Beeple advised that his followers]() "stay safe out there" because, as he put it, "anything too good to be true IS A FUCKING SCAM." ## Hucksters In the roughly 18 months that NFTs have gained serious name recognition, there have been an innumerable number of [hacks targeting enthusiasts]() of the digital assets. According to [one expert](), NFT hacks were up a whopping 695 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to previous year. Crypto exchanges themselves have also been [targeted at increasingly high volumes](). In January, [Crypto.com admitted that hackers had made off]() with the equivalent of about $30 million from its exchange, and the following month, a bizarre [crypto-enthusiast rapper and her husband were arrested]() by the FBI for allegedly laundering a whopping $4.5 billion in Bitcoin. We've long since been past the point where these sorts of hacks and heists seem more like the rule than the exception, which begs the question: why do people keep falling for it? **More on crypto scams:** [*Crypto Fans Are So Dumb They’re Clicking .EXE Files Disguised as NFTs*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()