The X platform has undergone a major overhaul in the cryptocurrency sector.

For ordinary users, this might just mean noticing fewer inexplicable replies on their timelines or seeing the price of certain tokens suddenly plummet; but for the "InfoFi" projects that rely on this platform for their livelihood, it is nothing short of a disaster. The X platform abruptly cut off the API interfaces of several well-known Web3 information flow projects, including Kaito and Cookie. Despite these projects paying millions of dollars annually to X for API call fees, and being regarded as some of the most active innovators in the Twitter ecosystem, they were left in the lurch.

To understand the situation, we should connect the dots with X's recent move to add smart tags to cryptocurrency and stock tickers, and consider what Musk is trying to achieve.

Perhaps he is clearing the weeds because he is preparing to lay down the golden runway to the Everything App in his garden.

The End of InfoFi

The reform of the cryptocurrency sector on the X platform cannot be separated from one person.

Nikita Bier, a name that resonates throughout the product circles of Silicon Valley. If you know his background, you will realize that this is not an impulsive move by a conservative executive. On the contrary, Bier is an expert in viral dissemination. He founded tbh and Gas—two social applications that drove American teenagers wild, with the former sold to Facebook and the latter to Discord. His specialty lies in leveraging human weaknesses to generate traffic.

Because he is an expert in creating viral content, he knows better than anyone what kind of traffic is toxic.

After joining X to oversee product growth, Bier quickly set his sights on the InfoFi projects. These projects appeared to be thriving but were actually built on a logic that contradicted the X platform: replies equal mining.

In the models of Kaito or Cookie, every reply and every like from users under a tweet is less about being moved by the content and more about earning token points for the project. This external incentive mechanism led to disastrous consequences—comment sections were flooded with AI-generated nonsense, meaningless flattery, and mechanical spamming. Bier referred to this as AI sludge.

When you want to see a clash of opinions under an important news item but are met with hundreds of uniform "Great project!" comments or clichés generated by ChatGPT, the value of X as the "global town square" is diluted.

Bier would rather cut off millions of dollars in API revenue than allow these projects to continue. He stated plainly in the announcement: this is for user experience. But beneath this grandiose reason lies a deeper strategic conflict: the pricing power of attention.

Only X Can Define What Constitutes "Good Content"

Musk does not oppose users making money on X, but he not only wants you to make money; he wants you to make money according to his rules.

The original sin of InfoFi projects lies in their establishment of an incentive system independent of X. This system tells users: "As long as you generate volume, there are rewards." This fundamentally conflicts with the official creator incentive program that X is vigorously promoting.

So what has X's official incentive evolved into by 2026? The current X no longer pays solely for ad impressions but has shifted to more advanced metrics: interactions from Premium users.

This means that if 1,000 bots or volume accounts like your tweet, you might earn nothing; but if a certified, real industry expert shares your viewpoint, your income weight will significantly increase. X even penalizes "farm" accounts that engage in mutual data boosting through algorithms.

Musk's logic is clear: he wants the most useful messages, the latest news, and the most authoritative comments to flow on the X platform.

Cleaning out InfoFi appears to be anti-spam on the surface, but in reality, it is a reclamation of incentive rights. Musk wants all creators to understand: the only way to profit on X is to produce high-quality content that resonates with real users (especially paying users).

Only when the comment section is no longer a garbage dump for bots can new users intuitively feel the value here. They will discover that they can see the most worthwhile news, rather than being forced to watch performances for airdrops.

From the Highest Quality Information to Direct Transactions

When the weeds in the garden are cleared away, the previously obscured path becomes visible. This is the second step in X's recent transformation: allowing information to be directly converted into funds.

While cleaning up third-party APIs, X announced that it will officially launch "Smart Cashtags" in February. This is not a simple hyperlink but a native integration of financial data.

Previously, when you saw a $Ticker in a tweet, it might have just been a rigid symbol, or even pointed to the wrong asset due to name duplication. In the new system, when you discuss a cryptocurrency or stock, X will accurately identify it, displaying real-time price curves, related news, and even future trading entrances.

Why do this? The flow of funds is essentially the monetization of information.

In financial markets, especially in the cryptocurrency market, news is price. A piece of news about regulatory approval can instantly translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in buy orders; a tweet about a technical flaw can trigger panic selling in an instant. In the past, this process was disjointed: you saw news on X and then frantically switched to Binance or Coinbase to trade; even a few seconds of delay could mean missing the opportunity.

Musk's vision is to eliminate this few seconds of "friction."

Imagine this scenario:

On X, you first see a piece of real and significant positive news that has been validated by high-frequency interactions from Premium users, rather than being drowned out by AI-generated noise. On the keywords of this news, smart tags light up directly. You click the tag, and without leaving the app, you can see the market data and even complete the flow of funds through integrated payment functions.

This is the vision Musk has for the future of X, the prototype of the "Everything App."

Moving Towards the Conclusion of the Everything App

Many people think that a super app is the "WeChat model," which crams all functions like chatting, ride-hailing, and food delivery into one app. But in Musk's understanding, X's path to becoming a super app resembles a combination of "Bloomberg Terminal + Town Square."

In the Western internet world, no platform monopolizes the first point of breaking news like X does. Whether it’s political elections, sports events, or cryptocurrency trends, "news happens on X" has become an established fact.

Now, what Musk aims to do is to make "transactions happen on X."

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