The danger of "platform dependency," which TokenPost previously warned of in an editorial , has become a reality. Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) decided on the 15th (local time) to completely block "compensatory posting apps" through API policy changes, sending the related coin, KAITO, into a panic, plummeting over 14%.
A disaster foretold? "If the API goes down, the business is finished."
This incident has implications beyond a simple policy change. Nikita Beer, X's head of product, issued a crude criticism, saying that "InfoFi projects have produced AI slop and spam," and revoked API access. This clearly shows how vulnerable the "excessive dependence on external data sources" that TokenPost has pointed out is. The "InfoFi" model, which has relied solely on data and traffic from large platforms (X) without building its own ecosystem or community platform, is now at risk of collapse with a single word from the platform owner.
We are revising our developer API policies:
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) January 15, 2026
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.
We have revoked API access from these apps, so your X experience should…
It's not just Kaito... The InfoFi sector is shaking.
The shockwaves of this measure aren't limited to KAITO. A growing sense of crisis is brewing among projects that leverage social sentiment analysis or community reward models, with many wondering, "Who's next?"
In particular, the area that domestic investors are most concerned about is MASK Network . Listed on major domestic exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb, MASK Network overlays cryptocurrency transfer and message encryption functions on the Twitter (X) website, and is considered to have the highest structural risk.
If Kaito is at the level of 'scraping' data through API, Mask Network has a strong 'middleware' nature that operates by parasitizing on top of X's interface. In other words, it belongs to the 'ultra-risk group' that the service itself can become unavailable if X just blocks external overlays or makes a slight change to the website UI structure. Market experts warn that "X ostensibly puts forward the idea of blocking 'reward-based apps', but in reality, it intends to 'clean up' all external tools that generate profits without permission on its platform," and "in this case, Mask Network could suffer the most fatal blow."
The sparks are also flying to other 'InfoFi' projects. AlphaScan (ASCN) , which analyzes X's massive data to provide trading signals, and LunarCrush (LUNR) , the original SocialFi that rewards users based on their social activity, are also not safe zones. The market is interpreting this measure as a signal for X to strengthen its control over all external data tools, and investment sentiment for related coins that are highly dependent on the platform is rapidly cooling.
TokenPost Editorial Revisited: "The Limitations of Web3's Self-Reliance"
In a previous column, this magazine pointed out that "the structure in which Web3 projects rely entirely on the APIs of the Web2 platform inevitably cannot guarantee 'censorship resistance' and 'sustainability.'"
First, this incident has proven the "absence of sovereignty." This is because it shows that the fate of Kaito and similar projects rests not with the DAO or the community, but with Elon Musk and X's management. Furthermore, the "unsustainable reward model" has also been revealed as a problem. Paying rewards simply to increase "buzz" is inevitably seen as "spam" from the platform's perspective, making coexistence with Web2 companies impossible.
"Going to Thread?"... InfoPie's Humiliation: Is There No Alternative?
The X side responded with a mocking "Go to Thread or Blue Sky." But will simply moving platforms solve the problem? Experts predict that only projects with "decentralized social (DeSo)" or "in-house data indexing" technologies will survive this incident. To avoid ending up like tenant farmers who are forced out of someone else's land (X), securing independent data sovereignty is essential.
When you need to prove your 'real' worth
Kaito's plunge could be the bursting of a bubble, or it could be the growing pains of evolving into a more robust model. However, what's clear is that, as TokenPost feared, "Web3 businesses that rely on Web2 APIs" are now dead. The market is now demanding projects with "real technology," not "easy-to-earn" projects.
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