Vitalik Weighs in on MAGA Grifter Exposé

Ethereum’s wonderkid revealed mixed feelings about Friday’s crackdown on foreign sock puppet accounts masquerading as American conservatives on X.

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Addresses X’s MAGA Controversy

On May 26, 2025, the X account “America First,” with the handle “@America_First0,” posted a seductive photo of a scantily clad blonde decked out in a muted turquoise outfit. Her legs are crossed, and she’s sporting white thigh-high boots that bring attention to her unbelievably short skirt. On her left is a matching purse with golden clasps, and she appears to be dining at an expensive restaurant inside a hotel. She’s holding a martini glass, smeared with lipstick, and is looking straight into the camera with a come-hither look.

“I got quite a few new follows and want to make things clear,” she writes. “I don’t support the union. I am a former liberal who voted Trump. Russia isn’t our enemy. Elon Musk isn’t a Nazi. Texas is the best state. I own guns.”

Read more: Is Bitcoin Core ‘Woke?’ Some Knots Proponents Think So

En flod av överväldigande svar följer: “Vacker,” “Snygga stövlar,” “Jag älskar din klänning.” Men det visar sig att @America_First0 faktiskt inte alls kommer från Texas. I själva verket är personen bakom kontot troligen inte ens en kvinna. Kontot drivs från Bangladesh och är ett av många falska MAGA-konton som avslöjades på fredag efter att X lanserade en ny funktion som avslöjar användarnas geografiska platser.

(A new feature on X that reveals an account’s geographic location exposed profiles operating out of countries such as Bangladesh but masquerading as American conservatives.) “In the short term it will have lots of positive effects,” said Vitalik Buterin, referring to the new location feature, before cautioning that in about six months, “Troll accounts with names like ‘Defend Western Civilization’ or whatever will all have ‘USA’ or ‘UK’ as their location tags.”

Det är välkänt att X har ett botproblem. Studier uppskattar att ungefär 20% av kontona på den sociala medieplattformen är chattbottar. Det innebär ungefär 100 miljoner botkonton på X, som har cirka 500 miljoner användare. Men fredagens avslöjande visar något mycket mer ondskefullt; arméer av utländska innehållsskapare, eller som Buterin kallar dem “troll”, som så discord bland amerikaner för att generera engagemang, en praktik känd som “rage baiting.”

(More than 20% of X accounts are bots / nature.com) The twenty years between 1994 and 2014 saw political polarization double in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center. By now, that number is likely far larger, as Republicans and Democrats lock horns over race, gender, and immigration. But while Americans bicker over politics, wily scammers in Russia, Southeast Asia, and Nigeria are cashing in by adding fuel to the fire. Outrage generates engagement, and with X paying thousands every month to whoever can garner the most views and likes, scammers are being incentivized to post the most inflammatory rhetoric to maximize their payouts.

(The twenty-year period between 1994 and 2014 saw polarization between Democrats and Republicans double / Pew Research Center) “I’m calling on Pete Hegseth to strip Mark Kelly of his rank and court-martial him for Sedition against the United States,” writes MAGA Nation, an Eastern European account masquerading as a pro-Trump patriot. “Do you support this?” the account asks. Here, MAGA Nation or @MAGANationX, is stoking the flames around a controversial comment by Kelly, a former Naval officer and current Senator for Arizona, by calling on Hegseth, the current U.S. Secretary of War, to charge Kelly with a crime that is just shy of treason. The account is still active and boasts nearly 400,000 followers even after it was outed on Friday.

Buterin, who has been focused on privacy lately, blasted the fake accounts, but seemed conflicted as he weighed the benefits of eliminating trolls and bots with the loss of location privacy. “I thought about this more,” he said. “Revealing the country non-consensually without offering any opt-out option (not even ‘stop using your account’) is wrong.”

Men X har gått ännu längre än bara “avslöja landet utan samtycke.” Vissa av de kränkande kontona har helt enkelt blivit avstängda. Ivanka News, som hade använt handtaget “@IvankaNews_”, försvann plötsligt i måndags. Profilen hade samlat mer än en miljon följare och som förväntat postade den regelbundet incendiärt innehåll om heta frågor som invandring. Huset av kort kollapsade när kontots plats bekräftades vara i Nigeria.

“Some of us living outside the USA genuinely support President Trump’s movement,” the account posted in one of its final tweets. “We believe he was saved by God on July 13, 2024.”

FAQ ⚡

• Why did Vitalik Buterin comment on the MAGA sock-puppet exposé?

Because X’s new location-revealing feature exposed foreign-run MAGA accounts, prompting Buterin to warn about both short-term benefits and long-term privacy risks.

• What exactly did X uncover about these MAGA accounts?

The platform revealed that many popular “America First”–style profiles were actually operated from countries like Bangladesh, Eastern Europe, and Nigeria.

• Why are these fake political accounts considered dangerous?

De driver på den amerikanska polariseringen genom att posta innehåll som väcker vrede för engagemangspengar, vilket förstärker splittringen samtidigt som de har ekonomiska incitament att provocera fram upprördhet.

• What concerns does Buterin have about X’s new policy?

Han hävdar att automatiskt avslöjande av användares länder utan samtycke undergräver integriteten, även om det hjälper till att avslöja troll och bottar på kort sikt.