80% of Crypto Is Bots: Why X (Twitter) Might Never Fix the Spam Problem

X Head of Product Nikita Bier says no technology exists to fix the spam replies plaguing crypto accounts, claiming 80% of crypto activity is driven by bots.

The statement comes amid complaints that the platform is a “horrible website,” and concessions that it remains the least-worst channel for open communication.

X’s Bier Draws a Line on Crypto Spam

Bier’s admission marks a shift in tone from X’s earlier confidence in fighting spam through technical measures.

“The financial incentive to spam on X will decline enormously over the next 30 days and soon be negative,” X’s Nikira Beir said in March.

Over the past year, the platform reportedly purged 1.7 million bot accounts, revoked API access from InfoFi apps that incentivized posting, and rolled out a dislike button to suppress low-quality replies.

However, Bier now argues those tools have limits. He said the only viable path forward is enabling 2nd-degree reply restrictions, a feature X has been testing with Premium+ subscribers.

“There is no technology in the world that could ever fix the spam replies of a crypto account — because 80% of crypto is simply bots. The only path out is to enable 2nd-degree reply restrictions,” wrote Bier in a Sunday post.

The setting expands who can reply to a post beyond just direct followers to include followers of followers, while still blocking unknown accounts and bots.

The concession suggests X (Twitter) views the crypto bot problem as structural rather than solvable solely through detection.

If 80% of crypto accounts are bots, as Bier claims, no filtering system can separate legitimate users from automated ones at scale without collateral damage to real accounts.

Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko and the Crypto Communication Crisis

Yakovenko’s response highlighted a deeper frustration within the crypto industry. The Solana co-founder called the platform “horrible,” yet acknowledged that open threads on X remain the best available option for public crypto communication.

The exchange followed a satirical post by Solana community member that mocked the state of crypto communications.

The post listed increasingly absurd rules, from not answering X DMs and Telegram messages to not answering your door or responding if your name is called.

The joke landed amid heightened security concerns following the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit on April 1, which used social engineering rather than code vulnerabilities.

That context added weight to the humor. The Drift attacker compromised administrative access through misleading approvals, not a smart contract bug.

In that environment, trusting any inbound communication becomes a genuine operational risk for crypto builders.

X’s Anti-Spam Playbook So Far

Bier has driven several anti-spam measures since joining X as Head of Product in mid-2025. In January 2026, he revoked API access from InfoFi apps like Kaito, which rewarded users for posting on X.

The move crashed Kaito’s token price by 20% and forced the project to sunset its Yaps incentive program.

In March 2026, X teased a dislike button on replies, and Bier signaled that spam’s financial incentive on the platform would turn negative within 30 days.

The platform also began preparing an auto-lock feature that flags accounts posting about crypto for the first time, requiring identity verification before they can continue.

Despite those efforts, Bier’s latest statement reframes the fight. Rather than promising to eliminate crypto spam, he is now telling users the problem is too deeply embedded in crypto’s own ecosystem for any platform to solve.

Could the 2nd-degree reply restrictions meaningfully reduce spam, or would they simply push bot operators to adapt?

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