Strange Crypto Tweets From Spanish Government Account Stirs Speculation

By Jose Antonio Lanz

It seems everyone is thirsty for the JUP airdrop, but few appear as desperate for free tokens as the Spanish embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In a series of unexpected social media exclamations, the official Twitter account of the government of Spain in Bosnia and Herzegovina has veered from its usual diplomatic discourse, engaging actively with multiple cryptocurrency projects.

Since yesterday, the account has raised eyebrows by inquiring about participation in token airdrops linked to upcoming meme tokens like the recent WEN token launch.

In the cryptosphere, 'airdrops' are the coordinated distribution of tokens or coins, usually for free, to numerous wallet addresses—often based on specific, chain-verified criteria. Airdrops are often employed as a marketing strategy to attract new followers and enhance engagement.

But the account is not just riding the “wen token” fever. It seems to want every single token possible, and has been engaging with smaller projects such as SatoshiVM, Monad, the game Star Heroes, and Dymension.

Not even Richard Heart, the controversial man behind HEX, is spared the embassy’s thirst for crypto tokens.

This erratic behavior, uncharacteristic of a government entity, has left observers puzzled.

In an emailed statement, the embassy confirmed that its Twitter account had "experienced a security breach," adding that, "The necessary measures have been taken with the social network itself to regain control over the account." The embassy added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and the National Police Cyber Attack Group, have been informed about the incident. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a separate email that the government is treating this issue as a confidential manner.

The initial lack of an official explanation created a vacuum filled with speculation. While verified accounts on Twitter have a special indicators—blue or gold checkmarks, and sometimes affiliate logos—to let users know they are legitimate, the verification program has changed so often that many find the checkmarks meaningless. Further, malicious takeovers of large official accounts have happened before.

The account's recent activity predominantly contains responses to blockchain projects, which themselves have been the target of spambot accounts and posts—further muddying the waters.

This incident echoes a recent security breach where the official account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was compromised. The attacker used the official Twitter account to falsely claim that all Bitcoin ETFs had been approved, leading SEC's Chair Gary Gensler to promptly disavow the tweet.

The false tweet caused significant, albeit brief, turmoil in the Bitcoin market that day, underlining the tangible impact of digital misinformation.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa. This article was updated on January 31, 2024 to add statements from the Spanish embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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