X would rather give up millions of dollars to clean up InfoFi trash: what does this indicate

A seemingly contradictory decision reflects a profound shift in the crypto community’s understanding. Recently, X product lead Nikita Bier stated that the InfoFi application has paid millions of dollars for API access, but the X platform does not want this money. This statement came after X announced the revocation of all InfoFi app API access. What does it mean?

Event Overview: From Inclusion to Cleanup

The Rise and Fall of the InfoFi Model

InfoFi (Information Finance) emerged as a popular incentive model in late 2025: third-party applications reward users for posting, replying, and interacting on X to incentivize content creation, with rewards typically in tokens, points, or crypto assets. Examples include KAITO’s “Yaps” and Cookie DAO’s “Snaps.” This model once attracted a large influx of users and capital.

X’s Policy Shift

On January 15, 2026, X officially announced revisions to its developer API policy: applications that reward users for posting on X are no longer permitted, and API access for related apps has been revoked. The official reason was straightforward—these applications led to大量AI-generated spam content and reply spam flooding the platform, severely impacting user experience.

The Truth Behind It: Ecosystem Quality vs. Short-term Revenue

Why does X prefer to give up revenue?

On the surface, abandoning millions of dollars in API fees seems irrational. But from a long-term ecosystem health perspective, this decision actually demonstrates X’s clear understanding:

A platform filled with spam content, even if it makes money, will ultimately lose user trust. Compared to short-term API revenue, protecting the platform’s ecosystem and maintaining user experience hold greater value. This trade-off indicates that X is redefining its core value as a social media platform.

The Fundamental Problem of InfoFi

According to relevant information, the issues exposed by the InfoFi model are not just spam:

• The proliferation of low-quality AI-generated replies drowns out genuinely valuable content
• Users frantically @project teams, engage in mutual brushing, and use bots for group control to exploit rewards
• The entire model has turned into a pure “view count” and “farmer” game, losing the original intention of incentivizing valuable content
• Many participants are only in for airdrops and token profits, not genuine content creation needs

Market Reaction: From Celebration to Cleanup

Token Plunge

KAITO, a leading representative of InfoFi, saw its token plummet 15-23% in a short period, from about $0.70 to $0.54–$0.58. Yapybaras NFT floor price halved by over 50%. Other InfoFi projects like Cookie DAO and Wallchain also collapsed by 10-20%.

Ecosystem Adjustment

KAITO’s founder quickly announced the phased removal of the Yaps incentive leaderboard, launching “Kaito Studio,” shifting toward a curated and layered collaboration model, and expanding to platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Cookie DAO decided to immediately shut down Snaps and all ongoing creator activities.

Lessons: What Is Genuine Demand?

The most important lesson from this cleanup is: Without rewards and incentives, there is no genuine demand.

When X cut off API access, a large number of bots and spam accounts disappeared rapidly, proving that much of the so-called “activity” was fake. True valuable content creators and users will not leave the platform just because token rewards are gone.

This also highlights a long-standing issue in the crypto community: we often treat “incentive mechanisms” as a万能钥匙 (universal key), believing that simply paying money can motivate behavior. But the reality is, without genuine content value and user demand as a foundation, no matter how much incentive is offered, it will only attract “farmers” rather than creators.

Summary

X’s decision to give up millions of dollars in revenue appears to be a sacrifice for short-term gains, but in fact, it is a commitment to the platform’s long-term value. The collective cleanup of InfoFi is also a necessary cognitive upgrade in the crypto community—we need to rethink what kind of incentive mechanisms can truly promote valuable content and ecosystem development, rather than creating spam and bubbles.

This cleanup is actually good news for ordinary users: Twitter becomes quieter, spam replies decrease, and genuine discussions and valuable content have more room to breathe.