X Sues Over Alleged Fake Bitcoin News Operation Run by Users

X has filed a lawsuit against Vivek Kumar Sen and Zmyang Sherpa, alleging that they ran a coordinated network of fake bitcoin news accounts designed to generate creator-reward payments from the platform.

The complaint accuses the two men of using multiple accounts to distribute fabricated headlines and manufacture engagement. X, represented by Lewis Silkin LLP, is seeking to recover at least £207,000 ($277,000) in creator-fund payments. It is also seeking compensation for additional investigation and remediation expenses, though the amount of those costs has not been established.

Nine X accounts are identified in the lawsuit as allegedly belonging to the network: @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest, @PolyBackTest, @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin and @Laserlump.

X alleges that these accounts repeatedly published supposed “breaking” bitcoin stories, with posts often duplicated word-for-word and uploaded only seconds apart. The company says many of the headlines contained unsupported claims about well-known financial institutions and executives, helping the accounts attract attention.

The complaint points to alleged posts claiming that Goldman Sachs’ CEO was advocating for a crypto bill and that Citibank had acquired $12.6 million worth of bitcoin.

The platform further alleges that the accounts worked together to increase visibility by liking, replying to and reposting the same content. X says the coordinated activity was intended to simulate authentic engagement.

Alleged Account Trading and Engagement Services

According to the lawsuit, the @Vivek4real_ account was also used to promote paid engagement and manipulation services.

X alleges that Sen solicited customers who were interested in purchasing additional X accounts with established follower bases. The complaint references an alleged private message in which Sen discussed acquiring another account and proposed switching communication channels because encrypted chat was not enabled.

The message allegedly included a concern about getting into trouble for conduct that X does not permit.

X says it terminated all nine accounts on Aug. 18, identifying the reason as “coordinated revenue sharing fraud and platform manipulation.”

The company claims its investigation uncovered technical and financial connections between the accounts. These allegedly included shared devices, login identifiers and payment details.

X says some payments were processed through shared Stripe accounts that used different names. In one case, the Stripe information was allegedly registered under “Stefan Mann,” while the corresponding bank account and email address were associated with Sen.

The company is seeking repayment of the creator rewards it says were fraudulently obtained, along with damages related to alleged fraud and conspiracy.

The particulars of the claim were signed by X Senior Legal Directors Diego de Lima Gualda and Adam Mehes.