Never bet your farm on the incentive mechanisms of a centralized platform.

Source: @Eli5defi

Translation and Compilation: BitpushNews

If you woke up today to find your timeline unusually quiet (or chaotic, depending on that mysterious algorithm), it's not your imagination.

The "InfoFi" ban has officially taken effect. X (formerly Twitter) has revoked the API access of the "post-to-earn" applications we know (and some love and hate), including Kaito, Cookie, Wallchain, Xet, and others.

Well, the "easy mode" is over, and the harvest period has ended.

We need to talk about Goodhart's Law: when a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric. We made "engagement" a target, and in doing so, we turned the timeline into a Turing test where everyone is failing.

But what now?

Why did the bubble burst?

Honestly, the "attention economy" is suffering from malignant inflation. Applications like Kaito, Cookie, Wallchain are trying to financialize attention.

In theory, it incentivizes activity. In practice, it creates a distorted incentive structure where "engagement" is decoupled from "value."

We are not building a community; we are conducting a distributed, human-driven DDoS attack on the notifications bar.

X eventually realized that if they let third-party applications consume X users' dopamine, they would lose control over their advertising inventory and, more importantly, lose real interactions and content on X. This is a power struggle over the platform.

Advantages (Why this is good for real creators)

• A cleaner timeline and better user experience: No more endless AI junk content, “gm” farms, or bot replies clogging every post's comment section. Real conversations can breathe again.
• Emphasis on quality over quantity: Projects and creators that relied on paid spam now must focus on real value. This creates a level playing field for genuine voices (less noise = higher visibility for thoughtful content).
• Forces Web3 marketing to mature: The "post-to-earn" model is a short-term hack that made quick money but burned out the community and harmed long-term trust. This pushes us towards a more sustainable model.
• Community liberation: Many OGs and veteran users are celebrating (ZachXBT calls it "fact-based decision-making," and even some creators see it as a reset for Crypto Twitter).

Disadvantages (The painful reality)

• Immediate economic hit: Tokens like $KAITO, $COOKIE, and related NFTs plummeted by over 15-20% overnight. Many creators (especially in emerging markets) lost a real source of income as leaderboard rewards or activities abruptly stopped without compensation.
• Disruption of growth strategies: Web3 projects liked to use InfoFi for cheap viral marketing. Now without automation farming, it’s harder to promote. The reach of cryptocurrency topics may decline further.
• Platform risk exposure: X can change rules overnight (it happens again). This reminds us that we are building on rented land. One policy update, and your entire strategy can collapse.
• Short-term chaos: Projects are shutting down functions, activities are being paused, and some creators are mourning the "gold rush" era that allowed them to earn rent through daily posting.

What we need to do from now on

X's InfoFi ban has shaken things up, but it is opening a more structured and professional road for content creation in Web3. I see it as a driving force towards a true project/agency collaboration and closely-knit creator community.

Many creators have already begun to shift in this direction, and agencies are preparing to fill the gap, establishing curated networks, making creator groups the new center of deals and collaborations.

Below are the complete updated strategies, including detailed steps for each point:

1. Double down on high-quality, high-signal content

Focus on in-depth analysis, threads, visual content, and genuine insights (which is what got me to where I am today). If the content is human-made and valuable, X will still reward high-quality interactions.

Detailed steps:

• Audit your posts from the past 30 days: Keep only posts with engagement rates >5% or meaningful replies; delete or archive the rest.
• Plan 3-5 highlight content per week: (for example: 10 tweets, threads/long form/articles with graphs, simple analogies, or breakdowns).
• Use data tools: Use @Dune, @DefiLlama, @getmoni_io, @nansen_ai, etc., for original insights instead of using AI-generated summaries.
• Respond to interactions: Thoughtfully reply to every high-quality comment within 24 hours to build authentic conversation.
• Subscribe to high-quality research: Subscribe to channels like @fourpillarsFP, @shoalresearch, @oak_res_EN, @delphi_digital, etc.; see the complete list here: [https://x.com/i/lists/1956904918348190144]
• Track effectiveness: Use X Analytics to see which format (thread vs poll vs video) yields the most bookmarks/shares.

2. Diversify platforms

Detailed steps:

• Set up 1-2 new platforms: (for example: Substack + YouTube); sync your best X content across these platforms.
• Strategically cross-post: Share links back to X when sharing X posts.
• Establish a flagship channel: Make it diverse, like starting a weekly YouTube/TikTok series (e.g., "5-Minute DeFi"), and promote it everywhere.
• Grow Telegram/Discord: Create a free channel/group for exclusive updates and to connect with your audience.

3. Shift to direct and sustainable monetizable content

Open DMs for real brand/marketing deals (many projects will pivot here). Build your own audience flywheel: email list, personal website, or paid community.

Detailed steps:

• Set up tools: Create a Linktree and use Beehiiv or Substack to build an email list; you can try offering free products (like "DeFi Beginner's Guide" PDF) in exchange. Find a method that works for you.
• Pitch yourself or offer free exposure: Reach out proactively to projects.
• Track income: Use a simple spreadsheet to record transactions, subscriptions, and expenses monthly.

4. Join marketing agencies

The ban killed unlicensed reward spam, so brands/projects will rely more on trusted agencies for distribution. Top cryptocurrency/Web3 marketing agencies have established or expanded creator departments, and even Kaito seems to be going down this path with Kaito Studio.

Some of the top agencies I’ve worked with (no particular order):

@TailoredWeb3, @radarblock, @GREEND0TS, @PinkBrains_io, @apcollective, @funhouse_la, @yaptradeDAO, @JELabs2024, @growgami, @LunarStrategy, @surgence_io

Detailed steps:

• Build your media kit: Compile data (follower count, average engagement rate, niche focus), 3-5 best threads, past collaboration examples, and pricing.
• Research agencies: Visit their websites, check their creator recruitment announcements, see if they have ongoing campaigns, and pitch yourself to them.

5. Prioritize reputation and relationships

Offline events, collaborating with like-minded creators, and creating evergreen value that can compound (instead of daily spam).

Detailed steps:

• Attend 1-2 events per quarter: Aim for conferences like Devcon, Token2049, or local meetups (check Eventbrite or CryptoEvents).
• Weekly collaborations: Reach out to 3 creators of similar scale for joint threads, guest appearances, or mutual promotions.
• Build a "Warm List": Document over 50 contacts (creators, founders, community managers) in a Notion document and note how you can help each other.
• Focus on evergreen content: Repurpose top threads into Notion pages, PDFs, or permanent blog posts.
• Altruism first: Offer free value (e.g., tagging helpful people, sharing their work) to build goodwill.
• Disclosure statement (Disclaimer ON): If you receive paid deals, be sure to disclose it clearly, ensuring accountability and keeping your audience fully informed.

Conclusion

The cryptocurrency industry is rapidly evolving. In the future, models similar to InfoFi may emerge on friendlier platforms. But the lesson is clear: never bet your farm on the incentive mechanisms of a centralized platform.

This may bring growing pains in the short term, but in the long run? This could be the best thing to happen in Crypto Twitter. Less noise, more signal, and only true creators will prevail.