Yap-to-earn takes over Twitter

AI platform Kaito’s tweet-to-earn leaderboard gives users points for posting about crypto

share


This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe


The AI platform Kaito has crypto devs and traders yapping more than ever on Twitter/X recently thanks to Yaps, its tweet-to-earn leaderboard where posting about crypto gets you points. 

After connecting your X account and crypto wallet, Kaito’s AI tool analyzes your posts to decide whether they deserve any points. Your account’s standing will also be partly determined by how many “smart followers” or influential accounts you have following you.

Last week, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin held the top spot as the #1 Yapper, but has since lost first place to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. 

Other crypto influencers can be found among the highest-ranking yappers, including some with CryptoPunks, Pudgy Penguins, and Milady PFPs.

Kaito’s Yap leaderboard

Unsurprisingly, yappers are already trying to game the system to get as much YAP as possible. 

One pseudonymous crypto trader known as “hodl” claims that getting your “smart followers” to engage with your crypto posts will get you more points. Echo chambers supposedly won’t help, and posts need to be made at “optimal times” for maximum visibility. Kaito’s FAQ suggests that quality wins over quantity when it comes to poasting

Others have pointed out other possible loopholes that users may have been exploiting to get points. Last week, a few accounts claimed that posting or commenting the word “reply” repeatedly in a post got them hundreds of Yaps. We’ve reached out to Kaito on this, and whether this issue has been fixed.

Kaito calls its Yaps leaderboard “InfoFi” because its top posters are providing what it believes to be insightful information. But if you ask me, it’s SocialFi re-packaged for 2025 (remember friend.tech? And Stars Arena?). 

Kaito’s Yaps are SocialFi because its ranking system is using a popularity metric to help determine whether accounts should rise to the top. That’s less of a meritocracy and more of a popularity contest. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but let’s call a spade a spade.

In crypto, some of the popular kids also happen to be nerds — or convicted felons.

And if you’re asking “wen token,” we don’t actually know yet. So far, this yap-to-earn race is based on the assumption that eventually, a pile of Yap points could help yappers get free money in an upcoming token airdrop. 

But because posting is free, the only thing you might lose is the time you spent typing.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

REPORT_Template.png

Research

The Sonic blockchain is leveraging redesigned airdrop incentives and its FeeM program to propel DeFi activity and attract institutional capital, setting the stage for ecosystem growth. Within this environment, leading protocols Shadow Exchange and Silo are poised to asymmetrically benefit due to innovative features and favorable valuations, despite facing ecosystem dependency and competitive pressures. This positions them as compelling, potentially shorter-term, investment opportunities contingent on Sonic's sustained success.

article-image

Bitcoin needs a price, but its magic runs deeper

article-image

Circle had a pretty successful first day of trading, but what’s next for the stablecoin issuer?

article-image

Solana’s USDC caught a boost after being paired with the TRUMP memecoin

article-image

The stablecoin issuer’s successful first day of trading is likely to spur more crypto IPOs, industry watchers say

article-image

Job openings rallied and continuing claims stalled ahead of May’s employment report

article-image

A group of Twitch streamers battle for bitcoin. Will their chats help them?