On Monday, September 21, 2026, CoinDesk reported that social media platform X filed a lawsuit against two of its own users, accusing them of orchestrating a network of fake bitcoin news accounts to fraudulently collect payouts from the platform’s creator fund.
The suit identifies Vivek Kumar Sen and Zmyang Sherpa as the individuals behind the alleged scheme. X is represented by law firm Lewis Silkin LLP. The company is seeking to recover at least £207,000 (approximately $277,000) in disputed creator-fund payments, with additional damages from investigation and remediation costs still to be determined.
According to the lawsuit, nine accounts were involved in the operation, including @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, and @TrendingBitcoin. These accounts allegedly posted fabricated “breaking news” headlines—often identical in wording and published within seconds of one another—containing unverified claims about major financial institutions. Examples cited include false reports that Goldman Sachs’ CEO supported a crypto bill and that Citibank had purchased $12.6 million in bitcoin.
X also alleges the defendants used a separate set of accounts to like, reply to, and repost the fabricated content, artificially inflating engagement to make the posts appear credible.
The lawsuit further claims @Vivek4real_ attempted to expand the operation by offering paid engagement and manipulation services to outside parties, including soliciting the purchase of high-follower accounts. Court filings quote a message allegedly sent by Sen urging a third party to move their conversation to an encrypted channel to avoid detection.
X terminated all accounts tied to the network on August 18, citing “coordinated revenue sharing fraud and platform manipulation.”
The company says the accounts shared payment infrastructure, including Stripe accounts with mismatched names, along with common devices and login credentials—in one case, payment details registered to a different name than the linked bank account and email, which matched Sen’s.
X is seeking repayment of the disputed creator funds along with damages for fraud and conspiracy. The claim was signed by the company’s Senior Legal Directors, Diego de Lima Gualda and Adam Mehes.
Source: CoinDesk
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