The open internet is closing its doors on crypto. In a coordinated constriction of community channels, X (formerly Twitter) has banned "InfoFi" applications to combat AI spam, while major DeFi protocols like Morpho are actively shuttering their Discord servers to protect users from an epidemic of phishing attacks.
This dual crackdown marks a pivot point: the industry is being forced from noisy public squares into gated, ticketed support systems.
The X Purge: InfoFi Decimated
On Thursday, X Head of Product Nikita Bier announced an immediate revocation of API access for applications that reward users for engagement. The policy targets "InfoFi" (Information Finance) platforms, apps that tokenize likes, replies, and reposts.
"We will no longer allow apps that reward users for posting on X (aka ‘infofi’). This has led to a tremendous amount of AI slop & reply spam on the platform.", Nikita Bier
The market reaction was instantaneous. Kaito (KAITO), a leading AI search and sentiment analysis platform that utilized a "Tweet-to-Earn" model, crashed 20% (falling from $0.70 to ~$0.56) as liquidity drained. CookieDAO followed suit, announcing the termination of its "Snaps" product.
Bier’s statement made the platform’s stance clear: organic discourse had been suffocated by bot farms harvesting engagement rewards. While the move cleans up timelines, it effectively destroys the marketing engine for dozens of Web3 social projects.
The Discord Exodus: Security Over Community
Simultaneously, the industry’s backend is going dark. Morpho Labs, the team behind the multi-billion dollar lending protocol, confirmed it will transition its Discord server to "read-only" mode effective February 1.
The decision isn’t about spam. It’s about survival. Despite 24/7 moderation, open Discord servers have become hunting grounds for sophisticated drainer gangs who impersonate support staff. Morpho isn’t alone; reports indicate Optimism is executing a similar lockdown, directing users away from chat channels that have become unmanageable liability vectors.
Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative backed the trend, noting that for high-TVL protocols, the risk of a single user losing six figures to a Discord phish outweighs the benefits of a chatroom. "Discord is full of scammers," Zeller noted, suggesting Aave Labs should follow suit.
The Institutional Pivot
The era of the "Community Manager" fighting fires in a public chat is ending. Protocols are moving to Intercom, specialized governance forums (Discourse), and authenticated support tickets. This professionalization mirrors the banking sector. You don’t debug your Wells Fargo account in a public chat room.
For traders and users, the friction is increasing. The days of tagging a founder on X or opening a Discord ticket for instant help are over. The new standard is distinct: marketing happens on X (without incentives), and support happens behind a login wall.
