President Modi's Twitter account hacked, claiming India accepted and bought 500 Bitcoins

"The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account was immediately secured," the Prime Minister's office said in a tweet Sunday.

"During the short period in which the account was compromised, any tweets shared were of no value," the officials added.

Earlier, some Twitter users shared a screenshot of the tweet from the personal twitter account of the Prime Minister of India @narendramodi when it was hacked.

The screenshot reads: "India has officially accepted Bitcoin as a legal means of payment. Government has officially purchased 500 BTC" and will "distribute them to all the people of the country".

That tweet has now been deleted. Along with the tweet, a phishing link may also be attached.

Modi's Twitter account has more than 70 million followers - one of the most followed world leaders.

Currently, India does not recognize Bitcoin as a legal means of payment.

In September, El Salvador became the first country in the world to accept cryptocurrencies as legal tender. Last month, the country's president Nayib Bukele said he planned to build the world's first "Bitcoin City".

Jessica Tanner

Update 13 December 2021