After 4chan Was Hacked and Its User Data Leaked, the Controversial Website Quickly Went Down

After 4chan was hacked on April 14 and vast troves of user and moderator data were leaked online, many believed the imageboard would never recover. However, less than two weeks later, it is back, defiant as ever.

“We are back. Other websites can’t replace it, and neither can this community. No matter how hard it is, we are not giving up.”

The imageboard has left its mark on the world in many consequential ways, birthing countless memes and conspiracy theories, serving as a platform for political movements ranging from the alt-right to Anonymous, and acting as a dumping ground for leaks and hacks of all sorts.

Crypto is no exception, with 4chan also a historically influential gathering place to share altcoin alpha, coordinate campaigns to pump tokens, share price prophesies and more.

Now that the imageboard is back from the dead, here are just a few of the ways it has influenced the crypto space during its storied history.

Finding alpha on 4chan’s /Biz/ imageboard

The primary hub of crypto activity on 4chan is its /Biz/, or “Business & Finance,” imageboard, where traders, gamblers, investors and commentators gather to share info, shill tokens, and discuss the state of the crypto industry at large.

The imageboard has gathered a reputation for being a place where intrepid investors can go to learn about moonshot tokens the broader community has yet to discover, though X and Telegram have since given 4chan a run for its money. It has also been ground zero for countless shilling campaigns that have helped pump prices for various tokens.

/Biz/ has also become known for the various prophecies, lore and legends that emerge from its anonymous users. People who claim to have inside knowledge on major market movements often leak alleged secret info on the imageboard or issue prophecies, and every once in a while, they actually turn out to be accurate.

In January 2019, a user correctly predicted that Bitcoin (BTC) would hit $5,300 by April and $9,200 by July, sparking huge interest online. Unfortunately, their remaining price predictions quickly fell short of reality, including that Bitcoin would hit $87,000 by October 2020.

Another user claimed in May 2021 to work at a Chinese firm that collaborated closely with the government and said they had insider information that Bitcoin would sell off due to major news out of China. A few hours later, reports emerged that China would ban payment companies and financial institutions from offering services related to crypto transactions, and Bitcoin sold off.

/Biz/ was also the source of a June 2017 rumor that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had died in a car crash. The fake news led to Ether’s (ETH) market cap crashing by $4 billion before Buterin stepped in to share that he had, in fact, not died.

Chainlink and the LINK Marines

Perhaps the most successful shilling campaign to come out of 4chan is that of Chainlink (LINK), which saw a massive rally that started in 2020 and continued into 2021. Many of the oracle project’s most diehard community members, known as the LINK Marines, first discovered Chainlink on /Biz/.

Much of the excitement among the early Chainlink community was galvanized by a mysterious figure known as “AssBlaster,” who claimed to have insider knowledge about the project and would share alpha on /Biz/.

The LINK Marines relentlessly promoted Chainlink on 4chan and social media platforms, and by 2020, LINK had experienced its first major rally — from $1.80 at the start of the year to a high of $16.64 on Aug. 12.

Following the rally, Mechanism Capital co-founder Andrew Kang declared that “4chan has become the largest market driver” in crypto, “more powerful than even China or institutional crypto fund capital.”

Related: Mechanism Capital founder doubles Bitcoin position with a $200M long

LINK went on in 2021 to hit an all-time high of $49.54, becoming one of the year’s most talked-about crypto success stories.

LINK Marine Albert Nazarov told Cointelegraph Magazine in March 2021 that “4chan is basically a crucible of raw thoughts; the best and balanced make it to the top. It’s almost anything goes there, and it trains the brain to decipher good info from bad stuff.”

Chainlink remains the third most mentioned stock or cryptocurrency on /Biz/ over the last 24 hours as of the time of writing, behind only Bitcoin and Ether.

Pepe the Frog and memes galore

One of the most well-recognized memes associated with 4chan is Pepe the Frog, though its origins have nothing to do with the image