Like, Retweet, Lawsuit: X Accuses Bitcoin Influencers of Engagement Laundering 🎭

X Internet Unlimited Company and X Corp have filed suit in the UK High Court against Bitcoin-focused account operators Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa, alleging the pair ran a coordinated network that fraudulently drew at least £207,384 ($278,000) from the platform's Creator Revenue Sharing Program. The complaint, filed Thursday and confirmed Sunday by X and xAI general counsel James Burnham, accuses the defendants of publishing identical or substantially similar posts, cross-liking content and evading enforcement to manufacture engagement metrics. X suspended all nine implicated accounts on August 18.

The lawsuit identifies six revenue-sharing-enrolled accounts — @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest and @PolyBackTest — which joined the program between August 2023 and February 2026. Stripe profiles tied to the first three trace to Sen, while the latter three are linked to Sherpa, according to the filing. X alleges the network extended to @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin and @Laserlump, which repeatedly liked, replied to and reposted the defendants' posts to generate a "false appearance of genuine, human communication and interaction." Cointelegraph said it had not received a response from Sen and could not reach Sherpa by publication.

The platform cited specific examples, including an August 5 incident in which @Vivek4real_ and @TrendingBitcoin allegedly published substantially similar posts within 11 seconds of each other. A separate October 10, 2025 example cited in the complaint shows two accounts posting "Like, if you are not selling #Bitcoin" with the same chart two minutes apart. X also claims one account's Stripe profile listed a "Stefan Mann" while the linked bank account and email traced to Sen, and that both defendants are based in Preston, England despite the accounts appearing distinct. In a quoted message cited in the filing, Sen allegedly wrote to a recruit: "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."

Creator Revenue Sharing, launched by Elon Musk in July 2023, paid eligible creators a share of ad revenue based on engagement and required an X Premium subscription, five million impressions over three months and 500 verified followers. X retired the program on September 7 and began rolling out its replacement, Original Content Rewards, the following day. In addition to the £207,384 in alleged fraudulent payouts, X projects at least £75,000 ($100,000) in investigation, analysis and remediation costs, bringing total claimed and projected losses to at least £282,384 before interest and legal fees.

Burnham wrote that X "do[es] not tolerate fraudulent behavior on X — and will act forcefully to protect our platform and the earnings of genuine creators." The suit, brought against Sen, Sherpa and unidentified persons, claims deceit, unjust enrichment and unlawful means conspiracy under UK law. X is seeking return of the funds, damages, interest and legal costs, and the court filing is available on X's Transparency Center.