Binance co-founder Yi He recently expressed concerns about the proliferation of cryptocurrency scams on Elon Musk’s X.com platform. She questioned whether Musk, the billionaire owner, would take action to address the issue after encountering an impersonation scam on the platform. Yi He shared images of accounts impersonating her X handle (@heyibinance) and her real name.
The specific scam involved directing users to click on a link promising access to Binance-backed memecoins, even though no such coins exist. Yi He warned that clicking on the link could lead to financial losses. This incident is just one example of the many cryptocurrency scams that have been observed on X.com, with analysts attributing a significant portion of all crypto scams to scammers on the platform.
Scam Sniffer, a Web3 anti-scam company present on X.com, reported that nearly $50 million is lost each month due to scams, with account impersonation being a major contributor to the problem. Despite Musk’s promises to address issues like bots and spam on the platform after taking over Twitter and rebranding it as X, it remains unclear if he has specifically tackled cryptocurrency scams.
While Musk has not responded to Yi He’s concerns on X.com, the confusion surrounding the platform’s verification service, which allows almost anyone with a smartphone to get verified, may be contributing to the public’s susceptibility to impersonation scams. Investors in Tesla have even sued Musk for allegedly diverting resources and talent to xAI, raising further questions about the management of Musk’s various ventures.