The social media giant Twitter seems to be cracking down on cryptocurrency scam accounts – but several members of the Twitter cryptographic community have been caught in the fray.

Responding to a tweet from Professor Cornell Emin Gün Sirer, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wrote that "we are here". Yet the statement has prompted rapid criticism given that in recent days a number of accounts – including the Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange – have said they have seen their accounts restricted despite warnings from other users. members.

The loss of Kraken, at least, was temporary, with the ban eventually being lifted, according to the following tweets, after Dorsey's account became the target of community anger.

But other influencers like Brooke Maller, aka @bitcoinmom, have not been so lucky. As Mallers explained, his account appeared to have been banned from the shadows – a method by which an account is made invisible by others, although the user in question does not know not that it was hidden – inviting comments from other users.

She told CoinDesk:

"People just started telling me that they could not see my tweets in the discussions, they said" tweet unavailable. "Others said they did not were not receiving notifications when I tweeted, but no word from Twitter, there are some really weird stuff for Twitter crypto people right now, a series of bans and permanent suspensions. "

Neeraj Agrawal, director of communications at the Washington, DC-based Coin Thinking Center, also reported having problems with his account, although it is not forbidden. Several Twitter users who use and promote Ripple's XRP token have also tweeted about shadow bans through their networks.

The issue of copying verified Twitter accounts to mislead cryptocurrency users has become increasingly prevalent.

Many of the discussions in question start with a tweet posted by an influencer, after which a similar account will tweet a free cryptocurrency offer – provided that an initial amount is sent to a listed address.

In order to make the messages more legitimate, other spam accounts will post messages of support, claiming that they have already received payments.

A more recent publishing activity indicates that those who hide behind spam accounts use shortened links to hide wallet addresses, indicating that Twitter's anti-spam efforts are sweeping this type of information.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twitter image via Shutterstock

Leader in blockchain information, CoinDesk is an independent media company that strives to achieve the highest journalistic standards and adheres to a strict set of editorial policies. Do you have any breaking news or a tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at news@coindesk.com.

