Elon Musk Takes on Crypto Scammers

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has apparently reduced the number of cryptocurrency scam bots on the platform. Musk hinted that "bots are in for a surprise tomorrow" and later explained that Twitter had found a small number of people behind a large number of bot accounts and would be shutting down their IP addresses.

Crypto Twitter users reported a significant reduction in the number of bot responses to their posts. Billy Markus, co-creator of Dogecoin, said that instead of seeing 50 bot replies to a test post, he only saw one. Bitcoin analyst and investor PlanB also reported no bot responses to a chart he posted. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin noted that Twitter "seems" to be better to use lately but couldn't tell if the change was due to Musk's actions.

Musk said that while scammers might try other methods to bypass the IP address block, Twitter would "shut them down as soon as they show up." Some users have reported that the bots still appear on posts but are quickly removed by Twitter.

Twitter spam and scam bots have long been a problem on the platform, and Musk had made their removal one of his top priorities after becoming CEO in October. Musk also hinted that Twitter may take legal action against scammers in the future, but did not offer any further details.

The reduction in bots has been welcomed by many on Twitter, who have long complained about the proliferation of scam bots on the platform. However, it remains to be seen how effective the measures taken by Twitter and Musk will be in the long term, and whether scammers will be able to find ways to bypass the IP address block.

Regardless, the move has been hailed as a positive step in the fight against online scams, and Twitter users are hopeful that it will lead to a cleaner, safer platform.