CZ, Armstrong, Vitalik, Justin Sun make the cut as X tests crypto 'Starterpack'

Elon Musk’s social media platform X is launching its own version of the Bluesky-inspired Starterpacks, which would suggest influential voices from several communities to its users. 

Company head of product Nikita Bier said the social media platform has created curated lists of “the top posters in every niche and country,” and will assemble the names in clusters to surface accounts that new users might want to follow.

“We’ve compiled them into a new tool called Starterpacks to help new users find the best accounts, big or small, for their interests,” Bier wrote on X late Wednesday.

Crypto starterpack includes Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, and Justin Sun

According to a screenshot shared by the X product head, the “Crypto Founders” pack features the official accounts of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Tron founder Justin Sun, and Dogecoin co-creator Shibetoshi Nakamoto.

Some proponents of the list believe these accounts can help newcomers cut through the noise of scams and hype and identify credible sources in the community. However, the inclusion of names like Tron DAO founder Justin Sun has given naysayers reasons to dispute what the starterpack intends to do. 

Sun was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023 for allegedly selling unregistered crypto securities, market manipulation, and unlawfully promoting tokens. Last year, the financial watchdog requested a stay in the case to negotiate a possible settlement.

US House liberal policymakers sent a letter to Chairman Paul Atkins last week, asking the SEC to explain if it let off the Tron DAO founder due to his ties to the Trump administration. 

“I see you’re promoting pump and dumps. Good to know,” one critic wrote in response to the crypto starterpack image. X has not publicly detailed how often the lists will be updated, or what criteria are used to rank or select accounts within each pack.

The starterpacks feature was first launched by Bluesky in 2024, where users can create and share curated lists of up to 50 accounts. Bluesky’s version allows ordinary users to assemble packs and distribute them, including via QR codes for new sign-ups. Rival platform Meta’s Threads also began testing its own version of starterpacks in December that year. 

Suggested user lists have long been part of X’s history, dating back to the period when it was called Twitter. It initially used editorially curated suggestions to help people find accounts in line with their interests.

Yet, several complaints about fairness pushed the social platform in 2010 to replace its editorial lists with algorithmically generated recommendations.

X moves to open-source its algorithm

In other related news, X announced earlier this week that it open-sourced its recommendation algorithm, after CEO Musk promised to release the code within seven days. In a GitHub post, the company explained that the algorithm evaluates a user’s engagement history, scans recent posts from accounts within their network, and analyzes content from accounts they do not follow but may find interesting.

The system also runs machine-learning assessments on “out-of-network” posts, using signals derived from user behavior to predict relevance. According to the write-up, the entire recommendation process is powered by X’s Grok-based transformer model, which learns patterns from sequences of user clicks, likes, and other interactions.

The GitHub documentation states that there is no manual feature engineering used in determining content relevance. However, the model autonomously adjusts based on observed behavior.

Despite Musk’s repeated emphasis on transparency, netizens insist X has become less transparent in some respects since his takeover. When Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, the company removed many of the disclosure obligations regulators require from publicly listed firms.

“X’s use of the ‘blue checkmark’ for ‘verified accounts’ violates the DSA obligation for online platforms to prohibit deceptive practices on their services. Anyone can pay to obtain the ‘verified’ status on X without the company meaningfully verifying who is behind the account. It is difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with,” the commission’s statement read.

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