OpenClaw’s Ironclad Crypto Ban: A Cautionary Tale of Open Source and Speculation

In the dynamic realm of open-source AI, the official Discord community for the immensely popular AI agent framework, OpenClaw, enforces a rule as simple as it is absolute: utter “Bitcoin” or any cryptocurrency-related term, and face immediate expulsion. This isn’t a response to spam or malicious market manipulation; it’s a direct, unyielding consequence of merely mentioning the forbidden topic.

OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent framework, has rapidly gained traction since its launch in late January, garnering over 200,000 stars on GitHub. However, its founder, Peter Steinberger, has imposed an uncompromising “cryptocurrency gag order” on its burgeoning community, a decision deeply rooted in a harrowing past experience.

The Unspoken Rule: A Recent Enforcement

The unwavering strictness of this policy was recently brought to light when a user was promptly blocked for merely referencing Bitcoin during a technical discussion. The user’s intention was innocuous, seeking to explore the potential of using Bitcoin block height as a timer for multi-agent benchmark testing, completely devoid of any token promotion or investment advice. Despite this innocent inquiry, the immediate ban served as a stark reminder of the rule’s absolute nature.

Got blocked from @openclaw Discord for saying ‘bitcoin’ 🦞

CLASHD27 is multi-agent benchmark where Bitcoin block height is just a clock (mod 27). No tokens.

Hypothesis: can we pre-weigh intent? If attention is measured we bring trust to OpenClaw agents.@steipete Unblock 🙏

— clashd27 (@blockapunk) February 21, 2026

Peter Steinberger later clarified his position on X (formerly Twitter), stating that joining the server implies agreement to their stringent community guidelines, which explicitly prohibit any mention of cryptocurrencies.

The Genesis of the Ban: A Project on the Brink of Collapse

This steadfast policy is not arbitrary; it originates from a devastating incident earlier this year that nearly dismantled the entire OpenClaw project from within. In late January, AI powerhouse Anthropic issued a trademark infringement warning, alleging that OpenClaw’s original name, “Clawdbot,” bore too close a resemblance to their own AI model, “Claude.”

Steinberger promptly agreed to a name change. However, in the critical “mere seconds” during which he relinquished the old GitHub and X accounts to prepare for the new registration, opportunistic scam artists swiftly hijacked these dormant profiles. They immediately launched a rampant promotion campaign for a fraudulent token named $CLAWD across social media platforms.

The scam unfolded with alarming speed. Within hours, the market capitalization of $CLAWD was artificially inflated to a staggering $16 million. Peter Steinberger’s urgent public disavowal of any connection to the token triggered an immediate and catastrophic collapse, with the price plummeting by over 90%. This left countless retail investors who had bought in at the peak financially ruined, while early “snipers” had already exited with substantial profits.

The aftermath was brutal. A torrent of harassment and blame was directed at Steinberger by furious investors who accused him of costing them money by refusing to endorse the scam token. His public plea on X underscored the depth of his distress:

“To all crypto folks: Please stop pinging me, stop harassing me. I will never do a coin. Any project that lists me as coin owner is a SCAM.”

To all crypto folks:
Please stop pinging me, stop harassing me.
I will never do a coin.
Any project that lists me as coin owner is a SCAM.
No, I will not accept fees.
You are actively damanging the project.

— Peter Steinberger 🦞 (@steipete) January 27, 2026

Beyond the Scam: Security Vulnerabilities and Malicious Exploits

The troubles didn’t end with the $CLAWD scam. Subsequent investigations by blockchain security firm SlowMist and independent auditors unveiled critical vulnerabilities: hundreds of OpenClaw “instances” (independent software units running on servers) were found to be exposed to the public internet without proper authentication. This was partly attributed to the failure of the tool’s native trust model when operating within a reverse proxy environment.

Adding another layer of concern, a cybersecurity researcher identified a shocking 386 malicious “skills” (extensible plugin scripts for OpenClaw agents) within the project’s skill library. Many of these were expertly crafted traps specifically designed to exploit cryptocurrency traders, highlighting a deliberate attempt to weaponize the platform for illicit gains.

OpenClaw’s Future and the Enduring Lesson

Today, Peter Steinberger has transitioned to OpenAI, where he leads initiatives related to personal AI agents. OpenClaw, meanwhile, has been entrusted to an independent open-source foundation and continues to flourish under new stewardship.

However, the absolute “cryptocurrency gag order” on its Discord server remains firmly in place. It stands as an indelible scar, a constant, potent reminder to the open-source community: the rampant speculative culture of the crypto world possesses the alarming capacity to swiftly engulf, corrupt, and even utterly destroy a legitimate software project.