Discord is abruptly restricting servers for the same concerning reason X just eliminated these crypto developers.

X has revised its developer API regulations to prohibit applications that offer financial rewards to users for posting, and enforcement has commenced.

Nikita Bier, who became part of X’s product team after selling his social application tbh to Meta, characterized this action as part of a larger initiative to diminish low-quality engagement and informed displaced developers that X would assist them in transitioning to Threads or Bluesky if necessary.

Furthermore, API access has been revoked for non-compliant applications, and impacted developers were instructed to adjust their targets to combat spam and AI-generated bot activity.

The timing is crucial. X is under ongoing pressure to prove its credibility regarding safety and transparency, especially as EU regulators impose penalties under the Digital Services Act. The enforcement against spam, combined with regulatory perceptions, makes pay-to-post an easy target.

This policy change doesn’t solely impact individual applications; it also recalibrates the entire incentive framework that has come to be known as InfoFi, a term for information finance. The sector attempted to monetize distribution by compensating users for posting, replying, and amplifying content.

This model relied on three interconnected layers: measurement systems that evaluate engagement and mindshare, distribution mechanisms for large-scale posting or replying, and payout infrastructure that rewards activity with tokens or points.

X’s actions directly affect distribution and payouts while diminishing measurement if products depended on API ingestion for scoring, verification, or preventing exploitation.

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Consequences of the API becoming inactive

Kaito, which developed a product named Yap that rewarded users for discussing crypto projects, engaged in discussions with X and subsequently declared it would discontinue the feature.

Kaito’s founder, Yu Hu, explained that Yap was not in alignment with the needs of “high-quality brands,” “serious content creators,” or X itself. He described the transition from what he referred to as a “fully permissionless distribution system” to a more conventional, tiered marketing strategy rebranded as “Kaito Studio.”

Similarly, Cookie DAO, which offered a comparable product known as Snaps, also intended to terminate the feature.

Cookie stated that it was a “difficult and sudden decision” essential for maintaining the integrity of Cookie’s data layer and products.

The InfoFi sector overall experienced a setback, dropping 12% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The primary takeaway is the quantified platform risk. The crypto space attempted to construct tokenized growth loops atop a Web2 API. X illustrated its ability to disrupt unit economics with a single policy adjustment.

KAITO and OriginTrail tokens saw declines of 14.8% and 3.2% respectively in 24-hour trading following X’s API policy changes impacting InfoFi initiatives.

Discord as a secondary signal of hardening

The same security rationale that prompted X’s crackdown is also influencing how DeFi projects manage Discord.

Open community spaces are being downgraded to read-only lobbies while support transitions to controlled, ticketed channels.

DefiLlama’s founder 0xngmi remarked that “Discord makes it impossible to protect your users from getting scammed […] even if you ban scammers right away, they still DM users directly.”

DefiLlama is shifting towards live support chat and email, a change confirmed by the project’s own support page.

Morpho has adopted a similar approach. Co-founder Merlin Egalite mentioned that the protocol team has been testing Intercom and “it has made support 100x easier.”

The connection between X and Discord is evident: X is eliminating incentive-driven posting at the API level while Discord is transitioning away from being an open support platform.

The underlying issue is the same: once spam and scams proliferate, open communication channels transform into attack surfaces rather than community safeguards.

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What replaces the previous structure

The migration strategy divides into two parallel paths: replacing X-dependent distribution and finding an alternative to Discord as the main community hub.

On the distribution front, Kaito’s shift toward a tiered, scoped, brand-friendly model presents the clearest framework. Permissioned creator programs supersede open leaderboards.

Participants undergo vetting, deliverables are clearly defined, and payouts are linked to outcomes rather than sheer posting volume. X itself is guiding displaced developers towards Threads and Bluesky, indicating that multi-platform diversification is now essential.

Redirecting incentives from “posting” to conversion metrics such as signups, on-chain activity, or referrals makes reward loops less susceptible to the API terms of any single platform.

On the community and support front, Discord isn’t disappearing; it’s being redefined.

Projects are viewing it as an entry point rather than the primary support channel, directing users to ticketed systems that mitigate impersonation risks and DM phishing vulnerability. Morpho and DefiLlama are just initial examples.

Project	Product	What changed	Why stated	Replacement / new posture
X (platform)	Developer API policy	Revised API terms to forbid apps that financially reward users for posting; API access already revoked for non-compliant apps.	Aim to reduce “reply spam” and AI-generated bot activity that undermines conversations.	X advised terminated developers to reach out for assistance transitioning to Threads or Bluesky.
Kaito	Yaps / Yap-to-earn + incentivized leaderboards	Declared it is discontinuing Yaps and the incentivized leaderboard model.	“Fully permissionless distribution” is no longer viable / not aligned with “high-quality brands” and “serious content creators” (as noted in coverage of the statement).	Transition to Kaito Studio, described as tiered / traditional marketing.
Cookie DAO	Snaps	Announced it’s time to discontinue Snaps (official announcement post).	Described as a “difficult and sudden decision” to maintain the integrity of Cookie’s data layer and products (per coverage).	Implied focus shifts back to data layer/products; no direct replacement announced in the cited reporting.
InfoFi category (market)	Category market cap (CoinGecko)	-12.0% market cap change in the last 24h (at time of capture).	N/A (market reaction)	N/A
DefiLlama	Discord as a support/community channel	Transitioning away from Discord for support; guides users to ticketing + email/live support.	“Discord makes it impossible to protect your users from getting scammed… they still DM users directly.”	Ticketing system (explicitly promoted) + live support chat/email.
Morpho	Discord support	Set Discord to read-only (per DL News) and redirected support to help page + Intercom.	Reduce scam/phishing risk; “support 100x easier” with Intercom tooling (per co-founder post).	Help center + Intercom (ticketing/structured support).
Optimism	Discord server	Set Discord to read-only (preventing users from posting).	Requires a different approach to support its enterprise strategy; also scam pressure.	“Most interactions occur via private channels” (as quoted).

Three potential paths for InfoFi in 2026

The future trajectory for InfoFi divides into three plausible scenarios.

In the first, permissioned marketing platforms take precedence. Rewards transition from open leaderboards to curated creator lists with defined deliverables.

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In the second scenario, multi-platform distribution becomes standard practice. Builders regard X as one channel among many to mitigate platform risk, a strategy that X explicitly endorsed by encouraging affected developers to transition to Threads and Bluesky.

In the third scenario, InfoFi collapses into analytics-only offerings. The data layer persists, consisting of tracking mindshare, sentiment, and on-chain metrics, but payout mechanisms either perish or entirely move off-platform.

Cookie’s focus on maintaining “the integrity of the data layer and products” suggests that measurement can be separated from distribution if necessary.

Discord’s evolution parallels this trend. Increased read-only conversions and migrations to controlled support frameworks are likely, with Morpho serving as a key example.

Projects will continue to redefine community spaces from “hangout” to “documentation plus verified announcements” as scams proliferate.

Three potential InfoFi trajectories: permissioned creator programs, multi-platform distribution diversification, or analytics-only products with payouts decoupled from posting.

The broader implications

X’s removal of pay-to-post incentives and DeFi teams downgrading Discord are both instances of threat-model-driven channel fortification.

X recognized that incentivized engagement results in spam and bot activities, which deteriorate platform quality. DeFi projects acknowledged that open Discord channels facilitate phishing and impersonation at a scale that community moderation cannot manage.

Both responses restrict access, introduce friction, and shift control from open participation to managed permissions.

This narrative is not merely about two unrelated platform adjustments. It reflects crypto infrastructure recognizing that communication channels designed for growth become vulnerabilities when adversarial behavior escalates quicker than defensive tools can adapt.

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