// Is “The Terminator” Behind a Monero Price Spike? (An OSINT Analysis)

For those familiar with Watchman Privacy, you already know that we’re not in the habit of tracking the price of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Our focus has always been on privacy, not profits. That said, there are rare occasions when cryptocurrency price movements intersect with cybersecurity topics in a meaningful way. Today is one of those moments, and it seems fitting to this discussion.

Those of you who follow cryptocurrency markets may have noticed a remarkable 50% surge in the price of Monero (XMR) in late April. The event coincided with a Bitcoin hack involving the transfer of 3,520 BTC (valued at around $340 million at the time of this article). For the inquisitive among us, the funds can currently be tracked at this bitcoin address: bc1qcrypchnrdx87jnal5e5m849fw460t4gk7vz55g.

What followed was a rapid and calculated maneuver, as the stolen bitcoin was laundered through multiple exchanges and ultimately swapped for monero: the well-known privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

Here’s where things get interesting. Due to its focus on privacy, Monero has faced widespread de-listing from mainstream exchanges, creating a highly unusual scenario. The cryptocurrency’s limited availability on centralized exchanges means that these platforms typically maintain very low reserves of it. Reportedly, one of the few exchanges that still lists Monero saw its reserves completely drained in under two hours. On top of that, many of the exchanges where Monero remains available are instant-swap services, which inherently require users to take custody of their coins. This “limitation” makes it exceedingly difficult to create “paper monero” (fake or non-existent monero on exchanges). As a result, exchanges were left scrambling to purchase real monero to meet demand, further driving prices upward. This sudden market imbalance was only exacerbated by users frantically searching for ways to access Monero as an on-ramp or off-ramp amidst the chaos.

The situation is reminiscent of Bitcoin’s early days, when price action would catch the attention of mainstream media, sending new waves of investors searching for ways to enter this uncharted market.

But the story doesn’t stop there. Let’s peel back another layer to see what lies beneath. Anyone looking into Monero’s recent price surge would have encountered a flood of eye-catching headlines. However, upon closer inspection, many of these articles were low-effort pieces, likely churned out by artificial intelligence. Nestled within the clutter was a perplexing claim about an apparent Monero upgrade called “EP-159.” According to these sources, this mysterious update supposedly introducing “compliance” features to the privacy-focused cryptocurrency and was touted as a key driver behind the surge in price.

Yet, something doesn’t quite add up. For those familiar with Monero’s development process, this claim immediately rings alarm bells. The so-called “EP-159,” along with its supposed sibling “EP-160,” is nonexistent within Monero’s ecosystem. The buzz surrounding these upgrades appears to be nothing more than junk content, likely generated by AI, to misdirect or manipulate the narrative.

To some, this discrepancy might seem like a dead end, easy to dismiss as noise. But for me, it was only the beginning of my investigation. Armed with basic OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tools, I began piecing together the puzzle mapping out the network of articles, tracking references, and documenting the chain of links tied to these claims.

Soon, a distinctive pattern emerged. The “press” surrounding Monero’s price surge fell into two categories. On one hand were core articles that subtly linked to a particular social media account (more on that later), and on the other were secondary articles almost certainly AI-driven that recycled content in increasingly garbled forms. These secondary pieces frequently included fabricated claims or outright hallucinations, yet they adhered to the same general structure:

Price Action Report → Hack → Technical Analysis Nonsense → EP-159

It doesn’t take much detective work to see who stands to benefit. The spotlight inevitably shines on the mysterious social media account tied to this operation. This account exhibits a suspiciously predictable pattern tweeting about recent Monero developments, exploiting trending topics, and redirecting attention to their own “token.”

Digging deeper, their posts reveal another red flag: inflated engagement metrics, marked by high like and re-share activity but conspicuously low comment interaction. This imbalance strongly suggests the account is buying likes or using other shady tactics to boost visibility. Despite these artificial boosts, its follower count remains conspicuously low: an odd anomaly for accounts engaged in such promotional strategies.

And so the investigation comes to an end. While these findings may seem like just another cautionary tale, they illustrate a deeper issue at play in the world of digital information: the dangerous consequences of relying on free, unverified content in an age increasingly dominated by AI-generation and manipulative narratives.

This flood of AI-crafted articles might seem harmless at first glance: an abundance of accessible information for the average reader. Yet it’s anything but. These low-effort pieces not only oversimplify and distort complex topics but actively manipulate perceptions, sow confusion, and lend ill-deserved credibility to fabricated claims. As seen in this case, the false narrative around “EP-159” didn’t just waste everyone’s time; it had the potential to mislead investors, spur ill-informed debates, and inflate price speculation. Worse, it could enable deliberate pump-and-dump schemes that exploit the naïve or unprepared.

People often imagine that if AI ever becomes a threat, it’ll look like something out of Terminator: metallic skeletons, glowing red eyes, and the end of civilization as we know it. But that’s not where the real fight is happening. Not yet anyway.

The reality is quieter, subtler, and already unfolding all around us. It’s not machine guns— it’s machine-written articles. It’s not killer robots—it’s viral misinformation, fake press releases, and algorithm-driven narratives designed to manipulate markets, shape sentiment, and waste your time. And while these systems might not look menacing, they’re eroding our ability to tell truth from fiction, signal from noise.

This is the real battlefield. It’s not some future sci-fi dystopia—it’s right here, right now.

This is man versus machine