Cardano creator's YouTube channel streams suspected AI-fake of Hoskinson pushing giveaway
The hijacked channel ran a fake Project Catalyst town hall for close to two hours, steering viewers to a QR code that promised to double their money.
Illustration · generated, not a photograph
Input Output Group, the development company behind Cardano, has told its community to stay away from its official YouTube channel after the account was apparently taken over and used to broadcast a scam.
According to Cointelegraph, the channel on Friday streamed a video that appears to have been manipulated with artificial intelligence, showing Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson urging viewers to scan a QR code and claiming it would "double your wealth." The fraud was framed as a livestreamed town hall for Project Catalyst, Cardano's decentralized grant and innovation fund.
The broadcast stayed live for roughly two hours before it was taken down.
Input Output issued a warning on its official X account, telling users: "Please avoid interacting with the IO Group YouTube channel until further notice."
The company also cautioned followers not to click links on the channel, send any funds, or hand over personal details in response to anything they saw there.
AI-generated and AI-manipulated videos of crypto founders advertising token giveaways have become a recurring scam format, with attackers typically hijacking large, verified channels to borrow their built-in audience and credibility. The tactic mirrors a wave of similar takeovers targeting figures across the industry in recent years, in which the fake video is a secondary tool — the real exploit is control of the trusted account.
The Project Catalyst branding would have added a further layer of authenticity. The fund distributes grants to community projects on Cardano, so a genuine town hall would plausibly discuss funding decisions of interest to holders and builders.
Input Output did not say whether the channel's access has been recovered, nor did it specify what viewers may have lost during the two hours the stream was live. The warning on X said only that users should avoid the channel until further notice.
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