Robinhood built a blockchain to tokenize stocks and real-world assets. Within days, someone hacked the SpaceX and Starlink X accounts to pump a memecoin on it. The memecoin then rugged.

The incident unfolded on Robinhood Chain, the company’s Layer-2 mainnet that launched on July 1, 2026. A hacker gained access to the official SpaceX and Starlink accounts on X and used them to promote a memecoin tied to the new chain. The token briefly reached a $2 million market cap before the project collapsed, wiping out buyers in the process.

What actually happened

A hacker exploited that trust to drive trading volume into a Robinhood Chain memecoin. The token’s market cap climbed to $2 million on the back of that amplified reach, then the project’s creators pulled liquidity, leaving buyers holding tokens worth essentially nothing.

Over 75% of trading volume on the chain came from memecoins in its first week. The total memecoin market cap on the chain briefly exceeded $244 million.

CASHCAT and the broader memecoin frenzy

CASHCAT, one of the more prominent memecoins to emerge on Robinhood Chain, attracted reports of hacking attempts tied to the project’s social media accounts and links to phishing activity. One trader reportedly turned a $316 investment into approximately $2 million through CASHCAT.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s presence on social media during the launch period reportedly amplified interest in the memecoin narrative on the chain.

Total value locked on Robinhood Chain reached nearly $79 million within the first eight days of operation.

What this means for investors and the broader market

The security incidents complicate the picture further. Rug pulls and phishing scams in the first week of a launch signal to institutional participants that the ecosystem is not yet safe enough for serious capital.

For investors watching Robinhood’s crypto ambitions, the key question is whether the memecoin frenzy is a temporary launch-period phenomenon or a structural feature of the chain’s user base. If the 75%-plus memecoin volume ratio persists, it will be difficult to attract the regulated financial product issuers that are central to Robinhood Chain’s stated mission.

A $79 million TVL driven primarily by memecoin speculation is a very different asset than $79 million TVL anchored in tokenized Treasuries or regulated equity products. Robinhood built the chain for the latter. The market, at least for now, showed up for the former.