Messari CEO Ryan Selkis Says He Was Briefly Suspended from Twitter for ‘Impersonating Myself’

Ryan Selkis, co-founder of the crypto market intelligence firm Messari, was suspended from Twitter on Saturday for pretending to be Ryan Selkis.

“I was suspended for allegedly impersonating myself, so I imagine that will be corrected,” Selkis told Decrypt. “The team over [at Twitter] is relatively short staffed given all the changes, so I don't know if that'll happen Monday or months from now.”

Although it was described as a "permanent" suspension, his account was restored by midday Sunday.

The long-time crypto blogger has over 300,000 followers on his primary Twitter account, which operates under the handle @twobitidiot. He uses the account to comment on crypto-related news and engage with members of the Web3 community.

In addition to his primary account, Selkis has a Twitter profile with a username that mirrors his full name. That account was created in 2009, prior to the one suspended Saturday, and allowed him to share details about the takedown of his @twobitidiot account.

Selkis claimed censorship on Twitter has gotten “way worse” since Elon Musk’s takeover of the company last year. He drew attention to other accounts impersonating him that are still up while his was taken down, calling it “a sign of decay” at Twitter.

The Messari CEO said the sudden nature of his suspension warrants some apprehension towards the future viability of Twitter, calling the platform a “dumpster fire” in its current state.

“I was basically suspended for no reason in terms of an actual violation,” he said. “That should be pretty disconcerting for a lot of folks, to think that at the drop of a hat you could lose your entire social presence, even if it's not for a good reason.”

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Messari, which gathers and explains data about cryptocurrency markets, has raised $21 million in Series A funding, according to a press release today from the company. The raise was led by early-stage investors Point72 Ventures. It also drew funds from exchange's venture arms, including Coinbase Ventures, Kraken Ventures, and Blockchain Ventures. Founded in 2018 by former Digital Currency Group and CoinDesk executive Ryan Selkis, Messari has become a prominent source for pricing data as well as...

Selkis tells Decrypt that he created a Reddit account in 2013 under the “twobitidiot” moniker to participate in discussions on Bitcoin-related forums, where “a lot of the community congregated” at the time.

As his Reddit account gained steam, he said created social media accounts on other platforms such as Twitter and Tumblr that used the same handle, and they eventually outgrew his personal account in terms of reach and popularity.

Over time, he became more involved in posting on Twitter as the crypto community shifted its presence there. The last time Selkis posted on Reddit using his “twobitidiot” account was around five years ago, according to the website. During his Twitter absence over the weekend, he worked with Aave founder Stani Kulechov to set up a presence on Web3 social media platform Lens Protocol.

This isn't the first time Selkis' voice has been muffled. Last August, Messari’s account on the email marketing platform Mailchimp was shut down along with other Web3 accounts, including Decrypt’s. Messari's marketing lead Jared Ronis said the enforcement occurred with zero warning—similar to Selkis’s sudden Twitter suspension on Saturday. 

In March 2020, Selkis also claimed Twitter had "shadow-banned" his reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside from its market intelligence products, Messari is known for its annual Mainnet conference in New York, a crypto-centric event that features panel discussions and networking opportunities. Decrypt was the media partner for Mainnet.

At the most recent Mainnet conference, Selkis said the ongoing decline in cryptocurrency prices has been a good thing for the industry’s long term health when it comes to washing away “dead wood.” He said, “Bear markets are good for getting the right people in the room.”