Elon Musk Keeps Word, Blocks ‘Spam’ Crypto Apps On X While Introducing Crypto Trading With Smart Cashtags

• X product manager Nikita Bier said the platform will block apps that use “claim your fees” mechanics to drive spam and harassment.
• X plans to update its API policies to prevent fee pools created for non-consenting users.
• Bier confirmed “Smart Cashtags” are launching in the coming weeks, enabling stock and crypto trading directly from the timeline.

X is preparing to tighten its rules around crypto-related applications while simultaneously rolling out new trading features, X product head Nikita Bier said on Friday.

“I genuinely want crypto to proliferate on X,” Bier, Solana (SOL) advisor, wrote on the social media platform. “But applications that create incentives to spam, raid, and harass random users are not the way. It meaningfully degrades the experience for millions of people, only to enrich a few people.”

Bier also said that X intended to update its API policies to block apps that created fee pools for non-consenting users. He called a characterization of “claim your fees” mechanics “the most dishonest perspective” he had read.

He also confirmed that X was preparing to launch “Smart Cashtags,” which would allow users to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies directly from the timeline, the main feed where posts appeared in real time.

Debate Sparked By OpenClaw Interview

Bier’s comments came in response to a thread discussing Lex Fridman’s recent interview with Peter Steinberger, creator of the open-source AI agent OpenClaw.

Steinberger claimed that he spent between $10,000 and $20,000 every month maintaining OpenClaw. Siri, an investor and author, contrasted that claim with Steinberger’s criticism of crypto communities attempting to tokenize projects, arguing that there may be substantial fees available on token networks.

Bier pushed back on fee-based engagement models, stating that apps designed to extract value from user interactions without consent would be restricted under updated API rules.

Some developers replied that X has frequently banned crypto apps using its API without introducing enough crypto-native features. Bier responded that new features, including Smart Cashtags, would be launching soon.

Elon Musk Promised To Reduce X Bots 

In early January, Elon Musk stated that X would make its recommendation algorithm open source, which would include how it ranks organic and advertising posts, and there would be updates every four weeks with developer notes. The change came after Ki Young Ju, the CEO of CryptoQuant, said that bots pushed more than 7.7 million crypto-related posts in a single day. He said that this surge caused crypto content to be blocked or downranked. 

Read also: ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Secures $2.8M Win In Defamation Fight With Ben Armstrong ‘BitBoy’

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