What happened? X announced it will no longer allow apps that reward users for posting (the “InfoFi” / “post-to-earn” model), citing a surge in AI-generated “slop” and reply spam. X says it has already revoked API access for these apps, meaning affected projects may lose the ability to track posts, verify engagement, and run reward mechanics at scale.
X’s decision to cut off “InfoFi” apps that pay users for posting is being sold as a straightforward cleanup of AI slop and reply spam — but the market fallout suggests something bigger is at play. By revoking Enterprise API access, the platform didn’t just change the rules for a niche growth tactic; it exposed how much of crypto’s “attention economy” still depends on a single, centralized gatekeeper that can shut down an entire incentive model overnight.
Multiple InfoFi projects saw their tokens slide after X said it is cutting off apps that “pay for posts” by revoking developer API access.
Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, said the platform is “revising” its developer API policies and “will no longer allow apps that reward users for posting on X,” arguing the model has produced “a tremendous amount of AI slop & reply spam.” X has “revoked API access from these apps,” he wrote, adding that timelines should improve once bots realize “they’re not getting paid anymore.”
The announcement quickly rippled through a corner of crypto that built growth loops around “post-to-earn” leaderboards and on-platform engagement scoring. Decrypt reported that Kaito — a project that became closely associated with the InfoFi label — saw its token fall more than 15% within about 30 minutes after Bier’s post, with other InfoFi-linked tokens such as Cookie DAO and Loud also dropping over the same window.
A platform policy shift that functions like a kill switch
While X framed the decision as anti-spam hygiene, the operational impact on InfoFi-style apps is structural. Many products rely on X’s APIs to (1) read posts and replies at scale, (2) measure engagement, and (3) reconcile rewards that are distributed off-platform (often via crypto tokens or points systems later redeemable for allocations).
When API access is revoked, projects can lose the ability to verify whether a user posted, whether a post met eligibility rules, or whether engagement was real — undermining the measurement layer that keeps incentive programs from devolving into fraud. In practice, X didn’t just change pricing or terms. It removed the data access that makes these apps function as automated systems.
Bier said the ban wasn’t about replacing the model with higher-priced access. “They were already paying us millions for Enterprise API access. We don’t want it,” he wrote, rejecting the idea that InfoFi could remain if it paid more.
Cookie: “Snaps were hugely dependent on the X Enterprise API”
Cookie, a project that has run creator campaigns and “mindshare” programs, said the crackdown hits one part of its product suite but leaves other offerings intact.
In an email interview with AlexaBlockchain, Cookie InfoFi platform CMO Krystyna Kozak-Kornacka said the company’s Snaps product was the most exposed to X’s data access: ““Snaps were hugely dependent on the X Enterprise API, but all our other products remain unaffected. We’ve been an X Enterprise API client for a little over 6 months, but our products, such as Cookie3 Analytics and KOL Intelligence, have been on the market for way over a year, which in itself is a testament to the parts of the business that have remained unaffected.”
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Image Credits: X, Shutterstock, Canva, Wiki Commons
