New Delhi: The Twitter account of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hacked on Sunday after it was announced that his country has adopted bitcoin as legal tender and is distributing cryptocurrency to citizens.
Modi is a prolific tweeter and the world’s most popular politician on the platform, with over 73 million followers on his main account.
A swiftly deleted tweet from his main @narendramodi handle stated that the Indian government had officially bought 500 bitcoins “and was distributing them to all residents of the country” with a scam link.
His office tweeted that the account had been “very briefly compromised” and that Twitter had since restored control.
This was the second time a Twitter account of Modi was hacked, after another tweet last year sent a tweet urging the public to donate to the fake coronavirus relief fund.
Sunday’s Hacking Ironically, India is preparing to tighten the noose on a flourishing cryptocurrency trade with a new law to be introduced in Parliament this month.
The details of the law are unclear but the government has placed broad restrictions on private digital currencies.
The local crypto market has boomed since the Supreme Court of India last year lifted a previous ban that had Bollywood actors and cricket stars running advertising campaigns for local exchanges.
Modi himself said last month that cryptocurrencies could “spoil our youth” and the central bank has repeatedly warned that they could “raise serious concerns over macroeconomic and financial stability.”
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