OpenClaw Bans All Crypto Talk on Discord After $CLAWD Token Chaos


Open-source AI agent framework #OpenClaw, which surpassed 200,000 #GitHub stars within weeks of its January 2026 launch, has imposed a blanket ban on any mention of #cryptocurrency in its Discord server. The rule applies to all references, including technical ones, with removal from the server as the consequence for violations.


The policy came to public attention after a developer was blocked from the OpenClaw Discord for referencing #Bitcoin block height as a timing mechanism in a multi-agent benchmark, not for promoting a token or project. The developer shared the experience in an X post, prompting OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger to confirm the ban publicly. Steinberger later offered to restore the user's access after asking them to send their username via email.


Steinberger, an Austrian developer who has since joined OpenAI to lead its personal agents division, said the server rules were presented to members upon joining and that a "no crypto mention whatsoever" policy was among them. The rule traces back to a damaging episode that unfolded during a project rebrand in late January. #AI company Anthropic sent Steinberger a trademark notice over the project's original name, Clawdbot, arguing it was too close to Anthropic's own "Claude" branding.


During the brief window between Steinberger releasing his old GitHub and X handles and securing new ones, scammers seized the abandoned accounts and used them to promote a fake token called $CLAWD on Solana. The token reached a market capitalization of approximately $16 million within hours. It then collapsed by more than 90% after Steinberger publicly denied any connection to it.

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February 22, 2026 at 11:57 PM
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