Indian Prime Minister Modi's Twitter Handle Hacked, Falsely Proclaims 'India Has Officially Adopted Bitcoin As Legal Tender'

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter handle was compromised for a brief period on Saturday. 

The account was restored after sharing a link promising a Bitcoin BTC/USD giveaway.

When it was hacked, misleading information was shared about the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and redistribution of 500 BTC among Indian citizens. 

The hacker mentioned, "India has officially adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in that tweet. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country. The future has come today!"

Bitcoin scammers declare the cryptocurrency as India's legal tender. pic.twitter.com/uTe1R7XUWZ

— Priya (@supesuonna) December 11, 2021

Soon after the hack, the unauthorized tweet was deleted, and the Prime Minister's official account confirmed the hack.

In a separate tweet, the Prime Minister's office said, "The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter, and the account has been immediately secured."

"In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored," the message continues.

In November, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government had no proposal to recognize Bitcoin as a currency in the country.

Earlier, in September 2020, the Twitter account linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal website and mobile app was hacked. 

Related Link: India Won't Ban Cryptocurrency, Will Regulate It As New Asset Class

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