On February 14, 2026, Nikita Bier made consecutive statements on X, igniting dual attention from the crypto and social circles. On one hand, he is the core decision-maker responsible for the related product line on the X platform, and on the other, he is a Solana advisor, inherently closely linked with the crypto ecosystem. In this concentrated expression, one line of focus is addressing the "claim your fees" type of incentivization that induces users to spam and disturb others through InfoFi-type applications, while the other line is the formal announcement of the upcoming launch of the Smart Cashtags feature, supporting direct trading of stocks and cryptocurrencies "in the coming weeks." Below the surface of contradictions lies the platform's attempt to find a balance between protecting the user experience of millions and not stifling crypto innovation. The real question becomes: Is X tightening crypto, or is it laying the groundwork for the next cycle of "scrolling social media while trading"?
Platform's Counterattack After Millions of Users Were Harassed
● The harassment pattern of InfoFi-type applications is concentrated in inducing users to @ friends, send mass private messages, and repeatedly forward linked content using incentivization scripts like "claim your fees," transforming what should have been voluntary participation in the information flow into a high-frequency disturbance chain or even the spread of spam information. These practices often package "whether to disturb others" as a choice of "helping you earn money," leading a large number of average users to be passively drawn into the vortex of spamming without deep insight.
● Nikita Bier particularly emphasized in this statement that these applications "only benefit a few but severely harm the experience of millions of users." This statement highlights the direct motivation for platform governance—user experience is being dragged down—and also implies a value judgment on such short-term traffic-grabbing models: the sacrifice is the broader community feelings and platform trust, yet only a small number of project teams and speculators are fed, which is a typical negative-sum game.
● It is essential to clarify that the target of this crackdown is the abusive behavior itself that induces spamming and harassment expansion, rather than a blanket denial of crypto assets or token economies. The platform's intervention is about behavior patterns—how to organize viral growth, how to reach users, how to leverage social networks—not merely treating "involvement with crypto" as an original sin. This is also the context in which Bier has repeatedly reiterated his "support for the development of cryptocurrencies on the X platform."
● For the relevant developer ecosystem, the short-term impact is already showing: the publicly named InfoFi applications are facing real pressures from being banned, restricted, or limited in API access; growth tools and bot networks built around these models are also encountering survival uncertainties. Many teams must anticipate that projects relying on aggressive user acquisition, forced @ tagging, and "passive authorized diffusion" will gradually be classified into high-risk areas or even directly removed from the ecosystem.
The Subtle Balance of Solana Advisor in Charge of X's Product Line
● Nikita Bier's current role is quite subtle: as the head responsible for related products within X, he directly participates in platform strategy formulation; yet, in his capacity as a Solana advisor, he is deeply embedded in the public chain and DeFi ecosystem. This dual identity means he is not a traditional "anti-crypto figure," but rather a product manager closer to "standing on the side of crypto innovation," naturally considering the long-term interests of crypto developers and user communities when promoting platform governance.
● Because of this, he must constantly seek an operational balance between "banning abuses" and "supporting crypto development": on one hand, employing stricter rules to clean up projects that exploit X's social relationships for spamming purposes, while on the other hand reserving space for compliant, experience-focused crypto products, avoiding a misinterpretation of governance signals as one-size-fits-all hostility. This action is less about being anti-crypto and more about establishing new behavioral boundaries for crypto applications.
● From his public emphasis on "supporting the development of cryptocurrencies on the X platform," it is clear that this round of cleanup is not an ideological "de-crypto" action but an attempt to direct the pathways for crypto integration from gray areas to more formal, productized trading entry points. Bier's logic is closer to: eliminating "bad models" that severely harm users to create space for subsequent upgrades of crypto functionality led by the platform.
● There is even a humorous saying circulating in the community that "for every 20 crypto platforms banned, one pro-crypto feature will be added" (originated from @mistor, information to be verified), which some users adopt as an emotional interpretation of the current strategy. Although this statement lacks serious statistical support, it reflects a common sentiment in the market: the platform's "crackdown" and "new features" resemble a seesaw, representing different win-loss expectations among various participants.
The Social Trading Imagination of Smart Cashtags
● According to Bier's announcement on February 14, 2026, X will launch a new feature named Smart Cashtags "in the coming weeks," allowing users to perform trading operations directly around stocks and cryptocurrencies within their timelines. This means that when you discuss a stock or a cryptocurrency tag, it will no longer just be about viewing information, but you can place orders on the same interface, bridging the entire chain from opinion, emotions to funding actions.
● Compared to the current Cashtags only serving as an information navigation, Smart Cashtags' upgrade lies in transitioning from passive information entry of "watching market trends and discussions" to an active trading entry for "directly placing orders." In the past, users had to switch back and forth between social platforms and trading platforms, while in the future, they look forward to completing an integrated loop from reading, discussing to trading decisions and execution under a single tweet or topic.
● For the entire social trading track, the significance of this entry lies in greatly lowering the trading threshold and amplifying the leverage effect of KOLs and hot topics on funding flows. When a major account posts and attracts significant attention, Smart Cashtags will facilitate the rapid conversion of "onlookers" into "followers placing orders," reinforcing emotion-driven funding movements and making "scrolling the timeline while trading" a frequent behavioral pattern.
● As for whether Smart Cashtags will further support functionalities like binding with smart contract addresses, it remains information to be verified and the outside world is largely in the speculation phase. Before the functional boundaries are fully disclosed, a more reasonable attitude is to focus on the confirmed capability of "direct trading within timelines," rather than prematurely envisioning it as an all-capable on-chain interaction hub, to avoid overinterpretation and misleading expectations.
From API to Ecosystem: The Red Line on Crypto Practices Tightening
● By linking the current concentrated cleanup of InfoFi applications with signals from the past few months, it becomes clearer that X is adopting a near-zero-tolerance attitude towards growth practices involving "inducing interactions and harassment propagation." Regardless of whether a project issues tokens, as long as its model continues to create large-scale forced @ tagging, mass private messaging, and information flow pollution, it will be seen as a direct threat to the platform's ecosystem and will be included in governance priorities.
● The market is also discussing a rumor about API permission adjustments in January 2026 (information to be verified): some applications that excessively rely on automated calls and batch operations may already face restrictions. Despite a lack of complete clauses and authority listings, this rumor has created a notable tension within the developer community, compounded by the public naming of InfoFi applications, forming a policy atmosphere of "API tightening + abuse cleanup."
● Under this gradually clarified red line, crypto tool developers must treat "user experience" as an equally important constraint when designing incentive mechanisms and calling X interfaces. Simple and crude viral growth and incentivization spamming are no longer paths that can be trialed without cost, and any design attempting to exploit social networks for short-term user numbers and interaction volumes will face higher compliance and survival risks.
● A more viable response direction is to shift the product focus from "spam growth" to more compliant and sustainable data, trading, and social tools: for example, dashboards based on public data, aggregation tools to help users securely manage multi-platform identities, or strategy combinations and risk reminder services around official entries like Smart Cashtags. While this shift sacrifices rapid growth in the short term, it is expected to yield more stable survival space under the platform's new rules.
The Tug-of-War and Game Between Platform Governance and Crypto Innovation
● On the surface, "banning abusive applications" and "launching pro-crypto features" seem to be opposing actions, yet they form a unity in X's governance logic: the former clears obstacles for user experience and brand safety, while the latter attempts to guide crypto trading and financial activities to concentrate internally within a more controllable framework. In this logic, cleaning up InfoFi is "closing the side door," while Smart Cashtags is "opening the front door."
● As a platform still centered on social interaction, X wants to become the trading entry point for users entering the stock and crypto markets, inevitably facing multiple pressures from regulation, brand, and user trust. Once discussions and transactions on the platform become highly coupled, public opinion manipulation, information asymmetry, and even potential market manipulation behaviors will more directly reflect on real funds, thus requiring the platform to have more solid risk control and product structures that can be explained to regulators.
● For crypto project teams, the signals released by this round of strategic adjustments are quite clear: simply relying on InfoFi-style traffic-grabbing growth models is losing ground. The future survival logic on X requires projects to construct narratives based on long-term value, product capabilities, and compliant operations, rather than catching attention through repeated "airdrop temptations + spam growth." The ability to provide tools that genuinely improve user experience will become a crucial standard for the platform's choice of cooperative partners.
● On a more macro level, these actions are expected to establish a new "mutually beneficial boundary" between social platforms and the crypto industry: platforms maintain user experience and brand safety with stricter governance, while crypto applications gain deeper opportunities for trading and asset integration within this premise. Those who can adapt to this boundary are more likely to gain advantages in the next round of the social + crypto cycle.
A New Threshold for Social Trading: How Far Will X Go Next?
The strategic outline currently exhibited by X clearly reflects a "cleaning up with one hand and building with the other": on one side, there is a concentrated crackdown on InfoFi applications that harm millions of users' experiences through incentivizers like "claim your fees"; on the other side, there is an acceleration in establishing formal and controllable entry points for trading cryptocurrencies and stocks, such as Smart Cashtags, moving crypto activities from the gray edge to the platform's main stage. In the short term, crypto developers will inevitably go through a period of adapting to the new rules, with some old models being forced out; however, teams willing to reconstruct their products around user experience and platform standards may have the opportunity to stand out in a clearer order.
With the official launch of Smart Cashtags, "scrolling the timeline while trading" is likely to evolve from an occasional behavior into a daily habit, amplifying the frequency and intensity of market fluctuations driven by hot topics. Information, emotions, and funds will be rapidly ignited on the same interface, and the linkage between the crypto market and traditional stock market may become tighter as a result. The real unresolved question is: in the context of the regulatory framework not being fully clarified, how deep and far will X integrate crypto trading? This depth will largely determine whether it remains merely a battleground for public opinion or becomes a truly global trading entry point.
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