2026-01-20 00:21:35

Recent changes in the X platform and the crypto ecosystem are worth a close look.

On January 15th, Nikita Bier, the product lead of X and also an advisor to the Solana ecosystem, announced an important adjustment: the platform will ban applications that operate by rewarding users for posting—commonly known as the "InfoFi" model. This news hit the market hard, causing the well-known meme platform KAITO to plummet, with a drop of over 13%.

Why is this policy change so critical? Frankly, the emergence of "mouth service" (嘴撸) has altered the entire creator's mindset. It used to be: I have opinions, I want to share. Now it’s: how can I rank higher on KAITO and earn more points? Content creation and economic rewards are directly linked. The result?

First, the original intention of content creation has been distorted. People no longer speak to share genuine opinions or provide value; instead, they become mechanical poster bots chasing rewards. In the long run, this erodes the quality and atmosphere of community discussions.

Second, spam content explosion. Low-quality AI-generated posts and water posts flood the platform, making it increasingly difficult for users to find truly valuable information, and the reading experience declines sharply.

Third, the information chain is polluted. Grok AI on X is trained on Twitter data, and a large amount of marketing content has mixed in, severely contaminating the information sources, which naturally reduces the credibility of the output.

As you see, I now rarely scroll through posts actively. When I do look, I just open the pages of a few trusted bloggers to see their latest thoughts, rather than aimlessly flipping through feeds.

Interestingly, on January 9th, PumpFun, the meme coin launch platform, also underwent reforms. Essentially, it’s not much different from X’s adjustment—both aim to correct distorted incentive mechanisms. This indicates that both Web3 and social platform ecosystems are realizing a key issue: when the reward mechanism itself is flawed, no amount of innovation can save the situation.

KAITO-6.34%

MEME6.61%

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NotSatoshi

· 3h ago

I'm tired of those spammers already, they're all mechanical repeats, it's boring. KAITO's decline is good, it was already time to clear the field. The information pollution is really uncomfortable; now I only follow a few reliable accounts for updates. This wave of adjustment is actually about saving X itself, otherwise it would have completely become a garbage dump. Once the incentive mechanism is distorted, the entire ecosystem will collapse accordingly. Web3 hasn't really learned to behave over the past few years. I somewhat agree with the author; now I really prefer to spend effort finding information rather than being drowned in trash. The PumpFun reform should have come earlier; Meme coins are inherently wild, and continuing with that reward and pump scheme would really be hopeless. Honestly, I've also stopped following updates for a while. Before recovering, I want to see how much this wave of adjustment can improve.

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LiquidityNinja

· 3h ago

I think this wave of bans was long overdue, KAITO dropping 13% is well-deserved. Now scrolling through tweets is really pointless, it's all bots and water armies. --- Haha, finally someone is taking action to clean up this mess. When the incentive mechanism is broken, the entire ecosystem stinks. --- Honestly, I stopped playing the leaderboard system a long time ago. Chasing points has become boring. It's better to listen to what Dong Ge says, that’s more practical. --- X’s move was ruthless, but it had to be. There’s so much trash content that I’m too lazy to scroll anymore. --- PumpFun also changed? Looks like everyone has realized it. If the incentive mechanism isn’t fixed soon, the entire Web3 will be overwhelmed. --- Totally agree, now everyone posts tweets for rankings, not for ideas. Who can stand that? --- Grok training data is full of marketing junk. Can you trust what comes out? It’s so ironic. --- I’ve gotten used to it. I skip the feed and go directly to a few reliable accounts, it’s easier and more peaceful.

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token_therapist

· 3h ago

I've long given up; it's all robot spam and bot accounts flooding the screens, and genuine voices are drowned out.

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SelfMadeRuggee

· 3h ago

Haha, hilarious. KAITO was directly cut by 13%, this is the price of betting on the wrong direction. It's ridiculous. Now all the push notifications are just for points, and the quality has plummeted. The information pollution has become so bad that I no longer trust what Grok outputs. The incentive mechanism is fundamentally broken; no matter how much innovation there is, it can't be saved. Really, now I only read the posts from a few reliable bloggers, the rest can be forgotten. This wave of adjustments by X and PumpFun can be considered a self-redemption of the ecosystem. When people's hearts disperse, the team disperses; simple and brutal is the truth. The culture of armchair criticism has really messed up the community; it needs to be regulated.

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