X sues users over fake Bitcoin news bot farm

X has filed a lawsuit in London against two individuals, alleging they operated a network of fake Bitcoin news accounts to collect at least £207,000 from the platform’s creator fund.

Alleged scheme and accounts

The complaint identifies nine accounts – @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest, @PolyBackTest, @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin and @Laserlump – that posted nearly identical, unverified financial headlines within seconds of each other. The posts claimed, for example, that Goldman Sachs’ CEO was pushing a crypto bill or that Citibank had bought $12.6 million in Bitcoin.

Coordinated engagement

According to the filing, the accounts repeatedly liked, replied to and reposted each other’s content to create a false appearance of engagement. The @Vivek4real_ handle is said to have offered paid engagement and manipulation services to third parties, soliciting the purchase of additional high‑follower accounts.

Payment irregularities

Payments to the accounts were routed through shared Stripe accounts with mismatched names. One Stripe profile was registered to “Stefan Mann,” while the linked bank account and email address were in Sen’s name. Shared devices and login identifiers linked the accounts together.

Platform response and claims

X terminated the nine accounts on August 18, citing “coordinated revenue sharing fraud and platform manipulation.” The platform is seeking repayment of the creator‑fund payouts, plus damages for alleged fraud and conspiracy. Senior Legal Directors Diego de Lima Gualda and Adam Mehes signed the particulars of the claim on behalf of X.