India Supreme Court Promotes XRP in Live YouTube Video, But There’s a Catch

Malicious actors take over the YouTube channel of India’s Supreme Court to promote XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger (XRPL). 

According to popular XRP community figure Crypto Eri, the hackers took control of the channel today and used it to promote Ripple and XRP. In a follow-up tweet, Eri attached a screenshot showing evidence of the hack. 

Per the screenshot, the attackers ran a live stream using a video thumbnail titled “RIPPLE WILL HIT $2 IN THIS MONTH.” Notably, they added a picture of Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse. 

A screenshot of the hack: pic.twitter.com/IZdRdqNXj1

— 🌸Crypto Eri 🪝Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) September 20, 2024

Economic Times Confirms Attack 

Meanwhile, several local media outlets, including the Economic Times, also confirmed the development in different reports. Economic Times confirmed that the attackers titled the livestream “Brad Garlinghouse: Ripple Responds To The SEC’s $2 Billion Fine! XRP Price Prediction.” 

Furthermore, the attackers made several modifications to the channel, including changing its name to ‘Ripple’ and using the company’s logo as the official cover and profile photos. 

India Supreme Court Shuts Down YouTube Channel

The live stream ran for hours before the Indian Supreme Court’s technical team shut down the YouTube channel. It took the measure to prevent the attackers from using the channel to promote cryptocurrencies. Notably, the apex court promised to reopen the channel shortly. 

Before the hack, India’s apex court used the channel to livestream legal cases of public interest. A few days ago, the channel was used to live stream the case involving the rape and murder of a trainee doctor. 

However, the channel was compromised today to promote XRP, prompting the Supreme Court legal team to shut down the service temporarily. 

Ripple Sued YouTube Over Consistent Scams 

This is not the first time Ripple and XRP have become victims of various hack scandals. Over the years, malicious actors have used deepfake videos of Garlinghouse to promote fraudulent XRP airdrops on different platforms, especially YouTube. 

In 2020, Ripple sued YouTube, accusing the company of failing to prevent scammers from impersonating Garlinghouse in crypto giveaway scams. A year later, the parties settled the lawsuit, with Garlinghouse announcing that both companies would collaborate to take down these scam videos.

However, these scam-related videos have persisted across these platforms. Reacting, Garlinghouse slammed YouTube and X for refusing to take action about scams targeting XRP community members.