OpenClaw Bans All Crypto Talk in Its Discord

OpenClaw’s founder confirmed a strict no-crypto rule in the project’s Discord after a user was blocked just for saying “Bitcoin.” Here’s what happened. 

An AI project called OpenClaw has drawn attention this week. Its Discord server carries a rule that bans any mention of Bitcoin or crypto, full stop. The rule came into sharp focus after a member was removed from the server for typing the word “Bitcoin.”

That member, known on X as @blockapunk, had written about CLASHD27, a multi-agent benchmark where Bitcoin block height is used purely as a timing mechanism, not as a financial instrument. No tokens. No trading talk. Just a technical reference. Still, the account was blocked from the server.

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Founder Steps In. Rules Are Rules.

@steipete, the OpenClaw founder, responded on X. The server had strict rules that every member agreed to upon entry, and no mention of crypto whatsoever is one of them. That was the explanation. Short, direct, no exceptions flagged.

@blockapunk accepted the decision publicly, saying rules are rules and expressing willingness to stay and contribute while avoiding the word entirely. The exchange was unusually civil for a Discord enforcement dispute.

Then @steipete followed up, telling @blockapunk to send an email with the Discord username so the account could be re-added—a short resolution. But the original block had already sparked a wider reaction online.

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The Rule Itself Became the Story

@coinbureau flagged the situation on X, noting that OpenClaw had confirmed the ban on Bitcoin and any crypto reference in its Discord. The rule exists, Coinbureau noted, to keep conversations on the AI project and off finance or trading chatter.

That framing did not sit well with everyone. One user, @Pummelpaffpaff, pushed back with a pointed claim: Bitcoin is not crypto. A distinction that circulates in some corners of the Bitcoin community, separating Bitcoin from the broader digital asset space.

@blockapunk weighed in again separately, writing on X about what they described as braggers and false information without value, without directly naming the OpenClaw server. Still, the timing placed it squarely in that conversation.

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Where the Line Gets Complicated

One voice on X, @prplhayeshz, took a different angle altogether, writing that the cryptographic value of Bitcoin culminated and ended with what was described as a hijacking. A pivot, the post suggested.

That kind of framing points to a fault line that runs through these debates. What counts as crypto? Is Bitcoin a category of its own or part of a wider financial conversation that AI-focused servers want to keep out entirely?

OpenClaw has not revised the rule publicly. The no-crypto policy on the server remains in place. According to @coinbureau on X, the intent behind it is narrowly defined: keep the Discord about the AI work, nothing else.

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