Crypto commentator ZachXBT criticized an annual charge that X now requires from new accounts.
ZachXBT wrote on April 15 that the brand new coverage is not going to eradicate bot account-driven scams as a result of “lots of of enterprise verified rip-off accounts” come on-line weekly. Scammers reportedly pay 1000’s of {dollars} for the faux accounts.
He mentioned that he’s not against Elon Musk’s administration of X however isn’t assured that the social media platform understands the extent of the black marketplace for verified accounts.
He additionally warned that the coverage “kills consumer development.”
As proof of the widespread nature of rip-off accounts, ZachXBT posted a screenshot that includes a number of faux accounts promising rewards associated to the interoperability protocol Wormhole. Most of the faux accounts had gold checkmarks underneath X’s current verification insurance policies.
Not a bot charge
X up to date its coverage on April 15 to require new customers to pay a small annual charge earlier than posting, liking, bookmarking, and replying as a spam-prevention measure.
In October 2023, the corporate started to check the coverage in New Zealand and the Philippines with a subscription mannequin known as “not a bot,” which included a $1 annual charge. The most recent replace extends an analogous coverage to new customers in different areas.
Musk, who serves as CTO and government chairman of X, confirmed and tried to justify the brand new coverage in a submit. He mentioned the brand new charge grants “write entry” on the positioning and known as the coverage the “solely solution to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.”
Musk linked the bot drawback to AI and troll farms however didn’t explicitly handle the difficulty of crypto scams, which have induced vital losses to customers.
Public knowledge reveals that crypto scams are extremely worthwhile. In October 2023, the US Federal Commerce Fee mentioned social media scams introduced in $2.7 billion over a multi-year interval. Crypto was concerned in 53% of social media scams within the first half of 2023.
The submit On-chain sleuth ZachXBT says X’s controversial ‘not a bot’ charge unlikely to eradicate scams appeared first on CryptoSlate.
