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SKN | X Sues Bitcoin Account Operators Over Alleged $278K Creator Payout Fraud

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Key Points

  • X sued alleged operators of a network of Bitcoin-focused accounts, claiming they fraudulently obtained at least £207,384, or approximately $278,000, through its former creator revenue-sharing program.
  • The platform alleges the accounts coordinated posts, likes, reposts and replies to artificially inflate engagement and create the appearance of genuine user interaction.
  • X is also seeking compensation for investigation and remediation costs, which it estimates at least £75,000, bringing its claimed and projected losses to £282,384 before interest and legal costs.

X Targets Alleged Engagement Manipulation

X has filed a lawsuit in the High Court of England and Wales against individuals it alleges operated a coordinated network of Bitcoin-focused accounts to manipulate engagement and obtain creator payouts.

The company named Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa as defendants, alongside unidentified account operators. X alleges the defendants fraudulently obtained at least £207,384 from its former creator revenue-sharing program.

The complaint was filed Thursday and is available through X’s Transparency Center.

According to the filing, the alleged activity involved multiple accounts interacting with one another through likes, reposts and replies while publishing identical or substantially similar content. X claims the activity created the appearance of genuine human interaction and artificially increased engagement associated with the accounts.

Six Accounts Identified in the Filing

X identified six accounts that it says were enrolled in its creator revenue-sharing program and connected to the alleged scheme.

The accounts named in the complaint are @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest and @PolyBackTest.

According to X, Stripe accounts associated with the first three profiles were linked to Sen, while Stripe accounts connected to the other three were linked to Sherpa.

The accounts joined X’s creator revenue-sharing program between August 2023 and February 2026.

The company alleges that the network extended beyond those six profiles. X also identified @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin and @Laserlump, claiming that these accounts repeatedly liked, replied to and reposted content from the defendants’ accounts in order to manufacture additional engagement.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

X’s former creator revenue-sharing program distributed a portion of platform revenue to eligible creators based on engagement generated by their posts.

The company alleges that the defendants exploited that structure by coordinating activity across multiple accounts. According to X, the accounts interacted with each other in ways that artificially increased the engagement metrics used to calculate creator payouts.

The filing cites an example from Aug. 5, when @Vivek4real_ and @TrendingBitcoin allegedly published substantially similar posts within 11 seconds of one another.

X argues that patterns such as this were evidence of coordinated activity rather than independent engagement between unrelated users.

Accounts Suspended in August

X said it suspended the accounts on Aug. 18 after identifying what it characterized as creator revenue-sharing fraud and platform manipulation.

The alleged activity relates to X’s former creator monetization system, which the company subsequently discontinued.

X retired the creator revenue-sharing program on Sept. 7 and began rolling out its replacement, Original Content Rewards, the following day.

The transition means the lawsuit concerns payouts generated under the previous system rather than the newer rewards structure.

Claimed Losses Reach Nearly $378,000

X alleges that the defendants obtained at least £207,384 in creator payouts through the alleged manipulation.

The company also estimates that it will incur at least £75,000 in investigation and remediation expenses.

Together, the claimed and projected losses amount to at least £282,384, or approximately $378,000 based on the figures cited in the source material. X is seeking additional interest and legal costs.

The final amount recoverable, if any, will depend on the court proceedings and the evidence presented by the parties.

Defendants Have Not Responded

The lawsuit links Sen and Sherpa to the accounts through payment information associated with the profiles.

A request for comment was sent to an email address associated with Sen, but no response had been received by publication. Sherpa could not be reached for comment.

The allegations contained in X’s complaint have not been established by a court, and the defendants will have an opportunity to contest the claims during the proceedings.

Outlook

The case puts renewed attention on the difficulty of maintaining reliable engagement metrics when social platforms directly tie creator compensation to user activity. X’s allegations center on whether coordinated interactions between accounts artificially increased the payouts generated through its former revenue-sharing program. The company has since replaced that system with Original Content Rewards, while the court proceedings will determine how the allegations, financial claims and requested damages are ultimately addressed.

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