Years of crypto scams on X (formerly Twitter) have prompted the company to introduce an “auto‑lock” for accounts that post about cryptocurrency for the first time. Nikita Bier, X’s Head of Product, announced the measure on X, saying the change will “auto-lock + verification if a user posts about cryptocurrency for the first time in the history of their account,” aiming to remove the incentive for freshly hijacked or newly created accounts to be used by scammers.
The policy drew attention after UK web3 creator Benjamin White said his account was phished via a fake copyright email and then used to promote a crypto scam. Bier said the auto‑lock should render such accounts effectively useless to criminals and help stop rapid abuse of reputable accounts.
Bier clarified that suspensions remain a policy‑team decision and reiterated how rampant financial scams have become on the platform. She also said community‑mention spam attacks—when many users are tagged to promote crypto—should now be blocked. Additionally, X will detect suspicious memecoin drops: if a high‑profile account with no prior crypto history suddenly posts a memecoin, X will treat it as a likely hack and require account ownership verification.
Typical scam playbooks involve phishing emails that mimic copyright or security alerts, fake login pages, captured credentials and 2FA, then using compromised accounts to blast scam links. X is a target because scammers can exploit the credibility and reach of real users, and posts can spread quickly in crypto communities.
X has previously taken legal and enforcement actions against fraud networks, including exposing attempts to bribe employees to reinstate suspended accounts. Regulators have also criticized X’s subscription-based blue check system for allowing badges without robust identity checks, which can mislead users and enable impersonation; the European Union fined X €120 million under the Digital Services Act in part over these issues.
The new auto‑lock and verification measures aim to make hijacked accounts less valuable, raise the cost for scam operators and reduce opportunistic phishing campaigns. However, the changes could create friction for legitimate newcomers to crypto, small creators, and journalists, risking false positives or temporary silencing when they first try to join crypto conversations.
At the time of writing, BTC trades near $67k on the daily chart. Source: Tradingview.
