X has launched legal proceedings against Vivek Kumar Sen and Zmyang Sherpa, alleging that the two men operated a group of fake bitcoin news accounts to improperly collect creator rewards from the social media platform.
According to the lawsuit, Sen and Sherpa allegedly coordinated the network, which published fabricated bitcoin headlines and generated artificial engagement to increase payouts. X, represented by Lewis Silkin LLP, is seeking the return of at least £207,000 ($277,000) in creator-fund payments. The company is also pursuing additional damages connected to its investigation and efforts to address the alleged activity, although those costs have not been calculated.
The complaint identifies nine accounts that X says were part of the network: @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest, @PolyBackTest, @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin and @Laserlump.
X alleges that the accounts regularly published purported “breaking” bitcoin stories that were often identical and appeared within seconds of one another. The posts allegedly used sensational but unverified claims involving major financial companies and executives to attract attention and generate engagement.
Among the examples cited by X are claims that Goldman Sachs’ CEO was advocating for a cryptocurrency bill and that Citibank had purchased $12.6 million in bitcoin.
The platform further alleges that the accounts interacted with one another by repeatedly liking, replying to and reposting content. X says this activity was intended to make the posts appear to have genuine engagement and broader popularity.
Account Sale and Engagement Claims
The complaint alleges that @Vivek4real_ was also used to offer engagement-related services to other users. X claims the account solicited customers interested in buying established accounts with substantial follower counts.
The lawsuit cites an alleged message from Sen to an unidentified third party concerning an account purchase. In the message, Sen allegedly suggested moving the discussion to another channel because encrypted chat had not been enabled and expressed concern about violating X’s rules.
X says it eventually suspended every account it associated with the alleged network on Aug. 18, describing the activity as “coordinated revenue sharing fraud and platform manipulation.”
The company claims its investigation uncovered further links between the accounts, including shared devices, login identifiers and payment arrangements.
According to the lawsuit, some creator-reward payments were processed through common Stripe accounts that used different names. In one example, the Stripe payment information was allegedly registered to “Stefan Mann,” while the corresponding bank account and email address were linked to Sen.
X is seeking to recover the creator-reward payments it says were obtained improperly. The company is also seeking damages tied to its allegations of fraud and conspiracy.
X Senior Legal Directors Diego de Lima Gualda and Adam Mehes signed the particulars of the claim.
