X Takes Bitcoin Influencers to UK Court Over Alleged Bot Network That Drained $278K in Creator Payouts

X has filed suit in the United Kingdom against two men it says ran a ring of six accounts that manufactured engagement on Bitcoin content to collect payouts from the platform's creator programme.

The High Court claim, lodged September 17, names Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa alongside unidentified others. The accounts allegedly enrolled in Creator Revenue Sharing between 2023 and 2026, reposting the same material and liking one another's tweets so the network would register as a real audience. X suspended all nine accounts on August 18. Claim number BL-2026-001161 had drawn no defence as of September 21, per Decrypt.

Creator Revenue Sharing ran from July 2023 until it closed permanently on September 7, 2026. It paid creators a slice of advertising revenue weighted by engagement — likes, replies and reposts. Eligibility required an X Premium subscription, five million impressions over three months, and 500 verified followers, with payments routed through a linked Stripe account.

James Burnham, X and xAI's general counsel, confirmed the action in a Sunday post. He wrote that X had sued people who abused the programme through "a coordinated network of accounts, posting inauthentic content to manipulate engagement, and using multiple bank accounts to hide their scheme," adding: "We do not tolerate fraudulent behavior on X—and will act forcefully to protect our platform and the earnings of genuine creators."

The filing cites specific overlaps. On October 10, 2025, two accounts allegedly published the same sentence — beginning "Like, if you are not selling #Bitcoin" — with the same chart, two minutes apart, among several near-duplicate posts said to have gone out seconds apart. Accounts including @Vivek4real_, @saylordocs and @TrendingBitcoin are also accused of copying posts and replies from one another.

Payment trails form another plank. X says the names on the linked Stripe profiles did not match the people posting. One account's Stripe listing showed a "Stefan Mann," while the associated bank account and email address pointed back to Sen. Both defendants are said to live in Preston, England, even though the accounts presented themselves as separate users.

X further alleges Sen sought to widen the scheme by bringing in other large-follower accounts. The complaint quotes a message attributed to him: "Can we continue on another channel, please as you haven't enabled encrypted chat and I don't want us to get in trouble for something X doesn't allow."

What X is asking for

The claim rests on deceit, unjust enrichment and unlawful means conspiracy — a UK cause of action covering people who jointly use illegitimate methods to inflict financial loss — plus a constructive trust asserting the money remains X's even after passing through other accounts. X wants the $278,000 returned along with damages, interest and costs, on top of at least £75,000 it says it spent on the investigation.

The platform has gone to court over alleged abuse before, suing a bribery network connected to banned crypto-scam accounts last year. The revenue-sharing scheme, introduced by Elon Musk in 2023, attracted sustained criticism that it rewarded reposting over original writing.

X also invokes its Authenticity Policy, which states the company "does not allow any activity that attempts to manipulate our platform or disrupt our services through inauthentic accounts, behaviors or content."