X Revamps Its Crypto Section Twice in One Week — What Is Elon Musk Planning?

X has once again overhauled its cryptocurrency segment with sweeping reforms.

For most users, this might just mean seeing fewer puzzling replies in their timeline or noticing sudden price drops for certain tokens. But for InfoFi projects that depend on X for their livelihoods, this move is devastating. Without warning, X abruptly cut off API access for several prominent Web3 information flow projects, including Kaito and Cookie. This happened even though these projects paid X millions of dollars each year in API fees and were once considered some of the most innovative players in the Twitter ecosystem.

To see the bigger picture, consider X’s recent addition of smart labels to cryptocurrency and stock tickers. This raises the question: what is Musk really planning?

Perhaps he’s clearing out the weeds to lay the golden runway for his Everything App.

The End of InfoFi

One person is central to X’s cryptocurrency overhaul.

Nikita Bier is a well-known figure in Silicon Valley product circles. If you know his background, you’ll realize this isn’t the impulsive move of a conservative executive. On the contrary, Bier is an authority on viral growth. He founded tbh and Gas—two social apps that became wildly popular among American teens, with the former acquired by Facebook and the latter by Discord. His expertise is leveraging human nature to generate massive traffic.

As a viral growth expert, Bier knows better than anyone what kinds of traffic are toxic.

After joining X to lead product growth, Bier quickly targeted the InfoFi projects. These projects looked vibrant on the surface but were fundamentally built on a logic that conflicted with X: reply mining.

With Kaito or Cookie, every reply or like under a tweet earned users project token points. This external incentive mechanism had disastrous consequences: much of the content became AI-generated nonsense, meaningless flattery, and repetitive spam. Bier called it “AI swill.”

So, even at the cost of giving up millions in annual API revenue, these projects had to be stopped. In his announcement, Bier was direct: it was for user experience. But beneath this official explanation lies a deeper strategic conflict—a battle over who controls the value of attention.

Only X Can Define What Counts as “Good Content”

Musk doesn’t oppose users making money on X. He wants you to profit—but only by following his rules.

The core problem with InfoFi projects is that they built an incentive system independent of X. This system told users: “As long as you generate volume, you’ll be rewarded.” This directly conflicts with X’s official creator incentive program.

So what has X’s official incentive program evolved into by 2026? Today, X no longer pays solely for ad impressions, but focuses on more advanced metrics: engagement from Premium users.

This means that if 1,000 bots or fake accounts like your tweet, you might not earn a cent. But if a verified, reputable industry expert shares your post, your earnings will increase significantly. X even uses algorithms to penalize accounts that engage in mutual engagement schemes.

Musk’s logic is clear: he wants only the most useful information, the latest news, and the most authoritative commentary to circulate on X.

Eliminating InfoFi may seem like an anti-spam measure, but in reality, it’s about reclaiming control over incentives. Musk wants all creators to understand: to profit on X, the only path is to create high-quality content that truly resonates with real users.

Only when the comments section is no longer a dumping ground for bots will new users immediately recognize the platform’s value. They’ll find the most important news here, not staged performances aimed at airdrop rewards.

From Premium Information to Seamless Transactions

Once the weeds are cleared from the garden, the once-hidden path emerges. This marks the second phase of X’s transformation: enabling information to flow directly into capital.

As X was phasing out third-party APIs, it announced the official launch of smart labels in February. This isn’t just a hyperlink—it’s the native integration of financial data.

Previously, a $Ticker in a tweet was just a static symbol, sometimes even linking to the wrong asset due to name overlap. In the new system, when you discuss a cryptocurrency or stock, X will accurately identify it, display real-time price charts, relevant news, and, in the future, direct trading options.

Why make this change? In finance, capital flow is fundamentally about monetizing information.

In financial markets—especially crypto—news drives price. A story about regulatory approval can instantly trigger hundreds of millions in buying; a tweet about a technical vulnerability can spark panic selling. In the past, this process was fragmented: you’d see the news on X, then rush to Binance or Coinbase to trade, and a delay of just a few seconds could mean a missed opportunity.

Musk’s vision is to eliminate those seconds of friction.

Imagine this scenario:

On X, you see a major news item validated by frequent Premium user engagement—not buried by AI-generated spam. A smart label appears on the relevant keywords. You tap the label, view market data without leaving the app, and even complete transactions through integrated payments.

This is Musk’s vision for the future of X—the prototype of the Everything App.

Advancing Toward the Everything App Endgame

Many people view the super app as the WeChat model—an app that bundles chat, ride-hailing, food delivery, and every other function. But in Musk’s view, X’s path to a super app is more like a fusion of Bloomberg Terminal and a public square.

In the Western internet world, no platform dominates as the first destination for global breaking news like X. Whether it’s political elections, sports events, or crypto market moves, “news happens on X” is now a fact.

Now, Musk wants to make “transactions happen on X.”

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