TLDR
- Input Output Group warned users to avoid its YouTube channel after it was apparently hijacked on September 18, 2026
- A suspected AI-manipulated video of Charles Hoskinson promoted a fraudulent crypto giveaway promising to “double your wealth”
- The stream used Project Catalyst branding to appear legitimate and ran for nearly two hours
- IOG told users not to click links, send funds, or share personal information
- This follows a long history of fake Hoskinson livestreams dating back to at least 2020
Input Output Group’s YouTube channel was hijacked on Friday, September 18, 2026. A fraudulent livestream using what appeared to be an AI-manipulated video of Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson ran for nearly two hours.
CARDANO’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL HAS APPARENTLY BEEN HIJACKED
IOG has warned users to stay away from its YouTube channel after it started livestreaming a fake-looking Charles Hoskinson video promoting a “double your wealth” crypto scam.
AI-generated videos are getting seriously… pic.twitter.com/PCzMdQzql6
— That Martini Guy ₿ (@MartiniGuyYT) September 18, 2026
The video promoted a giveaway promising viewers they could “double your wealth” by scanning a QR code. IOG responded through its official X account, telling users to avoid the channel “until further notice.”
IOG advised users not to click any links, send cryptocurrency, or share personal information with anything appearing on the compromised channel.
How the Scam Was Set Up
The broadcast was framed as a Project Catalyst town hall. Project Catalyst is a real Cardano community funding program, and using its branding gave the fake stream a familiar, trustworthy appearance.
No official Catalyst source announced a legitimate town hall matching the giveaway broadcast. IOG did not authorize the promotion in any form.
The stream combined Hoskinson’s likeness with recognizable Cardano branding, a tactic Cardano’s own scam guidance has warned about for years. Legitimate giveaways never ask users to send crypto first.
IOG has not confirmed how the channel was accessed. The company has not said whether multi-factor authentication was bypassed or whether other accounts were affected.
A Recurring Pattern of Fraud
This type of scam is not new for Cardano. The Cardano Foundation documented fake ADA giveaway streams as early as 2020, warning that scammers hijack established YouTube channels and impersonate ecosystem leaders.
A 2022 community forum post described a user who transferred 10,000 ADA after watching a fraudulent Hoskinson-themed stream. That loss was self-reported and not independently verified.
A 2024 report also described an impersonation channel using what appeared to be AI-generated Hoskinson footage to promote a giveaway.
In December 2024, the Cardano Foundation’s X account was separately compromised. Attackers used it to falsely claim the SEC had sued the organization. Hoskinson publicly identified those posts as unauthorized.
AI Manipulation Unconfirmed
The September 18 video has been described as AI-manipulated, but no forensic report has confirmed this. Scammers can use edited footage, altered audio, synthetic voice, or fully generated video.
Cardano’s security guidance acknowledges that AI tools are making impersonation scams harder to detect. The guidance names fake Hoskinson livestreams as a known and recurring risk.
IOG itself has experimented with AI-generated content publicly. In June 2026, Hoskinson defended an AI-generated influencer post published through an IOG account. That work is unrelated to the fraudulent stream.
At the time of writing, IOG had not confirmed the channel was recovered. No blockchain forensics firm had published a verified transaction trail tied to the September 18 scam.
Users should continue to avoid the IOG YouTube channel until the organization issues an official notice confirming its channel is back under normal control.
