X sues users for alleged Bitcoin post payment scheme

X filed a lawsuit on Sept. 17 against Vivek Kumar Sen, Zamyang Sherpa and unnamed operators seeking £207,384. The company alleges the defendants ran a coordinated network of accounts that manipulated engagement to collect creator payments tied to posts about Bitcoin.

The complaint says the defendants used synchronized posts and linked devices to make manufactured attention look like genuine audience interest. X describes examples of coordination, including two accounts posting the same content 11 seconds apart, and points to connections between payment records and the devices used by the accounts.

X’s revenue-sharing program paid eligible creators for attracting an audience, with views from paying subscribers contributing to earnings. Under that arrangement, accounts could earn money for attention their posts received regardless of whether Bitcoin’s price rose or fell. X alleges the defendants gamed the system by coordinating posts, interactions and payments so engagement appeared independent.

The company’s complaint does not accuse the defendants of manipulating Bitcoin’s market price or inducing purchases. The suit focuses on what X describes as improper collection of creator payments and seeks repayment of the amounts it says were wrongly obtained.

In a statement, James Burnham, X’s general counsel, wrote: “We will act against fraud to protect our platform and legitimate creators’ earnings.” The filings argue that pursuing repayment and legal costs can deter similar conduct by making manipulation less profitable than account suspension alone.

X has begun replacing the revenue-sharing program with a system called Original Content Rewards. Existing participants could earn through Sept. 7 and applications for the replacement opened on Sept. 8. The new rules exclude copied material and lightly rewritten versions of another person’s work, and bar artificially generated views from qualifying for payment. X says it will withhold earnings where it detects manipulation and has not publicly detailed an appeals process for disputed withholdings or repayments.

X’s filings highlight a related risk to platform trust: coordinated posting that appears to come from multiple independent accounts can give readers the false impression that a claim is verified by several sources. In the context of crypto, the filings note, such posts can prompt rapid user action while the accounts generating the attention may already be collecting payments.

The lawsuit seeks to recover funds X says were paid improperly and to discourage copying and coordinated activity that the company says undermines payments to creators who produce original work.