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

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has filed a lawsuit in the High Court of England and Wales against the alleged operators of a network of Bitcoin-focused accounts accused of defrauding its creator revenue-sharing program out of at least £207,384 ($278,000). The defendants, identified as Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa, along with unidentified co-conspirators, allegedly coordinated multiple accounts to manufacture engagement through coordinated reposts, likes, and identical or substantially similar posts — creating what X described in its filing as a "false appearance of genuine, human communication and interaction."

The lawsuit names six accounts enrolled in X's revenue-sharing program: @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest, and @PolyBackTest. Stripe account records link the first three to Sen and the latter three to Sherpa, with all accounts joining the program between August 2023 and February 2026. The complaint also references three additional accounts — @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin, and @Laserlump — accused of amplifying the scheme by repeatedly liking, replying to, and reposting the defendants' content. X suspended all implicated accounts on August 18 over creator revenue-sharing fraud and platform manipulation.

The alleged scheme exploited X's now-retired revenue-sharing model, which compensated creators based on engagement metrics. The filing cites a specific August 5 incident in which @Vivek4real_ and @TrendingBitcoin published substantially similar posts within 11 seconds of each other. X discontinued the revenue-sharing program on September 7 and began rolling out its replacement, Original Content Rewards, the following day.

Beyond the fraudulent payouts, X is seeking recovery of an additional £75,000 ($100,000) to cover investigation and remediation costs, bringing the company's claimed and projected losses to at least £378,000. The court filing has been published on X's Transparency Center as the platform moves to hold accountable those it says exploited its monetization infrastructure for financial gain.