Applause for Twitter account exposing paid crypto influencers

A vigilante Twitter account hell-bent on exposing those who neglect to reveal they are being paid to promote cryptocurrencies has been launched.

“This account is dedicated to exposing those who do not disclose their paid shills,” says @Shillexed on its Twitter page. “We are unbiased and seek to provide a transparent Crypto Twitter.”

The venture calls on Twitter account holders to send “any intel you have of someone shilling without disclosing!” It adds that “any info sent to us will stay 100% anonymous #Shillexed.”

In its opening 48 hours the account gained more than 5,000 followers. It has already exposed a couple of account holders for posting paid shills, and at least one Twitter account that goes by @cryptomocho has replied saying they plan to use the hashtag #paidpromo when posting a paid promotion.

@Shillexed appears to be run by those behind @Bitfinex’ed (their profile photo/logo is the same). Bitfinex’ed focused more on Tether’s lack of transparency.

Naysayers

Various websites, however, cast doubt on Shillexed’s motives. “In a space where it is safe to trust no one and wise to assume that everyone has a hidden agenda, accounts such as Shillexed and Krypto Leaks have an uphill battle,” claims one.

Another suggested Shillexed had made statements that “appear to suggest the author has prosocial interests” as “undisclosed shills are very wrong…” but it adds this is not “a compelling enough reason to justify the behaviours on the ShillExed account”.