Warning Issued: Fake Telegram Ads Hit Monad Ahead of $7B Airdrop

Monad Airdrop Targeted by Phishing Attack: Fake Telegram Ads Mimic Official Claim Portal

The highly anticipated Monad airdrop has been hit by a wave of phishing attempts just days before its official claim portal goes live. Cybercriminals exploited Telegram’s advertising system to inject fake ads directly into Monad’s official channel — a move that stunned both the project team and the wider crypto community.

According to Monad co-founder Keone Hon, attackers purchased Telegram ads designed to look identical to official Monad updates, misleading users into believing they were legitimate claim instructions. The ads, which appeared inside Monad’s official announcement channel, invited users to click on fraudulent links related to the airdrop claim portal.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hon expressed frustration and disbelief at the incident.

“Crazy that Telegram will push content directly into a channel that otherwise only contains content from one party,” he wrote, warning followers not to click on any ads within the channel.

The phishing campaign comes at a critical moment for the project, as anticipation builds around Monad’s token launch — one of the most awaited events in the 2025 crypto calendar.

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Users Warned to Stay Vigilant Ahead of Airdrop

Hon urged users to remain cautious and avoid rushing to claim their airdrops. He emphasized that the claim portal will remain open for three weeks, allowing participants plenty of time to verify information before taking any action.

“Do not act with urgency, and always triple-verify before doing anything,” he said. “You don’t need to rush — the portal isn’t going anywhere.”

His comments underscore a growing trend in crypto-related scams, where attackers prey on user excitement during high-traffic events such as token launches, NFT mints, and airdrops. By injecting malicious ads into trusted communication channels, scammers exploit the sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out) that often drives users to act quickly without verifying details.

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Monad’s $7 Billion Valuation Fuels Market Excitement

Even before the airdrop, Monad’s ecosystem has generated immense buzz across the blockchain community. The MON token, yet to officially launch, is already trading on Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures market at approximately $0.07 — implying a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $7 billion based on its total supply of 100 billion tokens.

This early valuation reflects investors’ confidence in Monad’s potential as a next-generation Layer-1 blockchain designed for high performance, scalability, and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility.

Monad’s architecture focuses on parallel transaction execution and an optimized consensus mechanism, which allows the network to process up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) with near-instant finality. These capabilities place it among the few emerging blockchains positioned to rival networks like Solana, Aptos, and Sui.

The project also claims to have overcome the blockchain trilemma — the long-standing challenge that a network can typically achieve only two of the three critical attributes: scalability, security, and decentralization. Monad’s team argues that its design achieves all three simultaneously through technical innovation and system-level optimization.

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Telegram’s Role Under Scrutiny

The incident has also renewed debate over Telegram’s ad policy and content moderation. While Telegram remains a dominant platform for crypto communities and project announcements, the platform’s advertising infrastructure appears to have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by bad actors.

The fake ads that infiltrated Monad’s channel are a clear violation of Telegram’s Advertising Guidelines, which prohibit deceptive content, phishing, and the promotion of fraudulent financial products. Telegram’s official documentation states:

“Ads must not promote phishing, including services that trick users into providing personal or other sensitive information.”

Yet despite these policies, the Monad case reveals a critical gap in ad vetting mechanisms. Unlike traditional web platforms such as Google Ads or Meta, Telegram’s advertising verification process remains less transparent — making it possible for malicious campaigns to pass initial screening if they appear visually legitimate.

Cybersecurity experts argue that Telegram needs to implement stronger pre-approval mechanisms and manual ad reviews for channels that handle financial or investment-related content.

“Allowing ads inside verified project channels creates confusion and undermines user trust,” said one security researcher who monitors phishing activity in crypto. “Platforms like Telegram must enforce higher standards of ad integrity, especially when financial scams are rising exponentially.”

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Growing Trend of Crypto Phishing Attacks

The Monad incident adds to a string of high-profile crypto-related phishing attempts in 2025. Earlier this month, the BNB Chain’s official X account was briefly compromised, leading Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) to warn users about malicious links being circulated under the chain’s verified profile.

Phishing remains one of the most common attack vectors in the crypto industry. According to a report by Chainalysis, phishing scams accounted for over $1.4 billion in crypto losses in 2024, driven by fake websites, airdrop portals, and impersonation campaigns targeting major blockchain projects.

With increasing mainstream attention around token launches and new blockchain ecosystems, experts say that retail investors must adopt stricter digital hygiene practices — including verifying URLs, checking official announcements, and avoiding links shared via direct messages or sponsored ads.

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Airdrop Hype Meets Security Reality

The Monad airdrop — set to open on Tuesday, October 15, 2025, at 1:00 pm UTC — is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants. However, the phishing incident serves as a stark reminder that hype and excitement can also create ideal conditions for cybercriminals.

Hon’s proactive response and repeated public warnings have been widely praised by the crypto community, with many applauding the team’s transparency in addressing the issue. Industry analysts note that how Monad handles this early test will shape perceptions of its reliability and governance before mainnet launch.

“Security is the ultimate trust signal for any new blockchain,” said crypto analyst Emily Tran. “The fact that Monad responded immediately shows maturity and professionalism — but it also exposes how fragile communication channels can be in this industry.”

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The Road Ahead for Monad

With an upcoming token generation event (TGE) and a mainnet debut expected later this quarter, Monad stands at a crucial inflection point. The project’s promise of high-speed, scalable, and EVM-compatible infrastructure has drawn attention from both developers and institutional players exploring decentralized finance (DeFi) integration.

However, experts emphasize that strong community education and security-first strategies must accompany its technical milestones. Building user confidence in an environment increasingly plagued by scams will be key to sustaining its growth.

For now, Monad continues to advise users to rely solely on official communication channels, verify all URLs, and avoid any claim portals advertised outside the official Telegram and website links.

As the broader Web3 ecosystem evolves, the Monad case serves as both a warning and a lesson: in crypto, technological innovation must always go hand in hand with user protection.

Writer @Ellena

Erlin is an experienced crypto writer who loves to explore the intersection of blockchain technology and financial markets. She regularly provides insights into the latest trends and innovations in the digital currency space.

 

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