On Sunday, July 15th, 2018 a new account emerged on Crypto Twitter under the handle @Shillexed and the “ShillExed” name. Within 48 hours that account had gained over 5,000 followers. This account claims to be “dedicated to exposing those who do not disclose their paid shills” which is another way to say, they will attempt to find and report on anyone on Crypto Twitter who promotes a blockchain project in exchange for payment. The ShillExed operator is actively soliciting other Twitter users to report these account. The ShillExed account has already reported on a couple of people and at least one account that goes by @cryptomocho has said from now on, he plans to use the hashtag #paidpromo when promoting a project for a fee.
Interesting. Controversial. Increased transparency. A shift in the balance of power. But is vigilante justice like this ethical or unethical? Let’s take a look.
It is the Thought That Counts
Let’s start by assuming first, that ShillExed has noble purposes. Assuming that is the case, then this person is attempting to make Crypto Twitter a better place. Certainly, multiple statements on the ShillExed account appear to suggest the author has prosocial interests “undisclosed shills are very wrong…” “followers or not, I still love you” “projects need to encourage transparent sponsored tweets…” and even warnings such as “do not fall for this.” These are all statements that appear to express genuine interest in helping others. There is no way to know the motives of this person, and it is far more objective (the same intention of this the ShillExed account) to examine behaviors rather than guess at thoughts (and this coming from a guy with a PhD in Psychology), so let’s take an objective look at this.
