The new “discovery tool,” called Starterpacks, has been introduced by Nikita Bier, Head of Product of the X social media platform. The new feature is set for new users to instantly discover and follow a curated list of popular/influential accounts in specific niche categories such as crypto, politics, etc. The goal of the Starterpacks is to provide a smooth onboarding experience as the platform grapples with declining crypto chatter.
How X’s Starterpacks Aim to Revitalize Onboarding and Discovery
Through Starterpacks, X is addressing the cold start problem for new users since they may have no idea who they should follow. For instance, a new user who joins the platform will answer a few questions like their interest or category (i.e., crypto, tech) and what country they are from. When the user completes their response, the system will automatically pull a pre-vetted list of accounts that are considered to be the top influencers within that category/community. For the crypto space, the Starterpacks bundle together a variety of different types of accounts, including analysts, traders, and project founders, into one single curated feed.
This new development is an effort by X to increase user engagement and retention by instantly providing them with relevant content that matches their interests, and on the other hand, counteracting the myth that the X algorithm makes organic discovery hard.
The Controversial Context: Is ‘Crypto Twitter’ Dying?
X or crypto Twitter may bot be doing well right now due to several factors, including a decrease in the use of “Bitcoin” overall (32% YoY) in 2025, according to cypherpunk Jameson Lopp; a lot of users claiming the algorithm has suppressed/cooled down all content related to crypto; and Bier saying that “Crypto Twitter is dying from its own suicide and not from the algorithm,” noting that the community behavior is responsible for this decline in interest.
The crypto Starterpacks were created with this background in mind, but are intended as both a strategic and ironic step forward for projects, as the feature will be a specific, curated form of promotional material to help get the conversation going about a particular topic, especially when well-known figures like Vitalik Buterin, for example, are advocating for the transition to decentralized social media platforms.
