Hundreds of Accounts Shut Down for Bot Farming
In an October 19 announcement, Binance revealed that several groups of users had deployed “bot farms” to manipulate Alpha’s reward system.
Binance Alpha is designed to give users early exposure to promising Web3 projects before their official listings.
Thanks to this unique opportunity, the platform has achieved over $115 billion in trading volume this year. However, its success has also attracted bad actors.
Some users allegedly used bots to mass-farm Alpha points, which determine eligibility for token sales and airdrops. This automation allowed a handful of users to capture rewards intended to be distributed fairly among the community.
Previously, blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps uncovered a similar pattern in ChainOpera, a major BNB Chain project. One coordinated group was reportedly controlling half of the top-earning wallets, generating about $13 million through synchronized trading.
Binance Launches a New Whistleblower and Monitoring System
To counter such abuses, Binance announced an upgrade to its monitoring tools and feedback channels, alongside a new whistleblower system.
This feature enables users to report suspicious accounts and, if the claims are verified, receive up to 50% of any recovered funds. However, reports must include verifiable data such as screenshots, wallet details, or IP addresses.
While the initiative aims to strengthen transparency, it has also sparked debate. Some experts warn that Binance may be shifting from a “social farming” model to a tightly monitored ecosystem.
Crypto analyst Demiter commented:
“It’s one thing to ban users abusing the ecosystem, but another to create a ‘snitching machine’ within your own platform. This move risks turning social farming into monitored farming under surveillance.”
He added that if Binance goes too far, the system could evolve from an open, community-driven model into something resembling “a police state.”
A Move to Rebuild Trust
Despite the criticism, Binance reaffirmed that any account found violating its Terms of Use faces permanent suspension and forfeiture of all airdrop rewards.
The crackdown comes amid user frustration over recent technical issues that caused account freezes and flash crashes across several trading pairs.
Ultimately, Binance’s latest move signals an effort to rebuild user trust—reaffirming its commitment to integrity, transparency, and fairness in how its community gains early access to crypto projects.
