X Sues Bitcoin Account Operators for Alleged $278,000 Creator Payout Fraud

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, has initiated legal proceedings against individuals it alleges orchestrated a network of Bitcoin-focused accounts to fraudulently obtain substantial funds from its creator revenue-sharing program. The lawsuit, filed in the High Court of England and Wales, seeks to recover at least £207,384 (approximately $278,000) that X claims was illicitly acquired through manipulated engagement tactics.

The legal action names Vivek Kumar Sen, Zamyang Sherpa, and several unidentified individuals as defendants. According to the court filing, which is publicly available on X’s Transparency Center, the defendants are accused of engaging in a coordinated scheme to artificially inflate the engagement metrics of their Bitcoin-related accounts. This alleged manipulation involved accounts consistently liking, reposting, and commenting on each other’s content, as well as publishing identical or highly similar posts. X asserts that this behavior created a "false appearance of genuine, human communication and interaction," thereby deceiving the platform’s algorithms and the revenue-sharing program.

X officially suspended the implicated accounts on August 18, citing "creator revenue-sharing fraud and platform manipulation" as the reasons for the action. The platform’s creator revenue-sharing program, which was a key initiative under Musk’s leadership to incentivize content creation, distributed a portion of X’s ad revenue to eligible creators based on the engagement their posts garnered from other users.

The lawsuit specifically identifies six accounts as being enrolled in the now-defunct revenue-sharing program and linked to the alleged fraudulent activity: @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest, and @PolyBackTest. X’s filing provides further detail by linking Stripe accounts associated with the first three profiles to Vivek Kumar Sen, and those associated with the latter three to Zamyang Sherpa. These accounts reportedly joined the revenue-sharing program at various times between August 2023 and February 2026.

The alleged network of fraudulent accounts, however, is believed to extend beyond these six. X also named @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin, and @Laserlump, accusing them of repeatedly engaging with the defendants’ accounts through likes, replies, and reposts to further manufacture engagement.

The mechanics of the alleged scheme relied on the structure of X’s former creator revenue-sharing program. By creating a closed loop of artificial engagement among their own accounts and those they controlled, the defendants could artificially boost the perceived popularity and reach of their posts. This, in turn, would have qualified them for larger payouts from the platform’s advertising revenue. The lawsuit cites a specific example from August 5, where accounts @Vivek4real_ and @TrendingBitcoin allegedly published nearly identical posts within an 11-second window, demonstrating the synchronized nature of their alleged manipulation.

X has since retired its original creator revenue-sharing program. The platform began rolling out a successor program, dubbed "Original Content Rewards," on September 8. This transition suggests X is moving to a new model for rewarding creators, potentially incorporating different metrics or verification processes to mitigate future instances of fraud.

Beyond the £207,384 in allegedly fraudulently obtained creator payouts, X is also seeking to recover investigation and remediation costs, estimating these to be at least £75,000 (approximately $100,000). This brings the total claimed and projected losses for X to a minimum of £282,384, excluding interest and legal expenses.

Cointelegraph made attempts to solicit comments from Vivek Kumar Sen via an email address listed in the court filing but had not received a response at the time of publication. Zamyang Sherpa could not be reached for comment.

This legal action by X highlights the ongoing challenges social media platforms face in maintaining the integrity of their engagement metrics and creator payout programs. The sophisticated nature of the alleged scheme, involving coordinated account activity and the exploitation of revenue-sharing algorithms, underscores the need for robust detection and enforcement mechanisms. The lawsuit also reflects a broader trend of platforms taking legal action against individuals or groups who attempt to game their systems for financial gain.

The case is expected to shed further light on the methods used to manipulate engagement on social media platforms and the legal recourse available to platforms seeking to protect their revenue streams and maintain a fair ecosystem for genuine content creators. The outcome of this lawsuit could set a precedent for how similar cases of alleged fraud are handled in the digital realm.