To combat fraud by so-called influencers, Quantmap co-founder Ivan Patriki encourages investors to vet influencers by looking for authentic, cross-platform engagement.
Key Takeaways:
A 2024 Coinwire study reveals 76% of X influencers promoted meme coins that collapsed into obsolescence.Mega-influencers with 200,000+ followers saw catastrophic 89% negative returns on their 90-day promotions.Quantmap’s Ivan Patriki predicts that by 2031, audience trust will outweigh simple follower counts on TikTok.The study further highlighted a bizarre inverse relationship between popularity and performance. Personalities with followings exceeding 200,000 yielded the most disastrous outcomes, with their calls resulting in an average 89% loss within a mere 90 days. These catastrophic returns underscore a dangerous reality: Many of these high-profile figures possess significant social reach but lack even the most foundational financial credentials.
For critics and financial watchdogs, these figures serve as a definitive smoking gun for the necessity of stringent investor protection laws. The unchecked dissemination of speculative advice has prompted a legislative counter-offensive in key global markets like the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Identifying the ‘Bot’ Factor: Tips for Investor SafetyAccording to Patriki, one obvious way of doing this is by mandating that creators with tens of thousands of followers verify their accounts with a government ID. Though the fix amounts to an erosion of online privacy, it is fairly simple, and Patriki believes platforms like Instagram and Tiktok will be implementing this in a few years.
In the absence of such measures, the Quantmap co-founder believes prospective investors can still protect themselves by checking an influencer’s “engagement cross-platform.”
“If the creator is only on one platform, it means their follower count might be botted. If they have no Discord or Telegram community, it means their fanbase isn’t strong,” Patriki warned. “And if they’re conspicuously missing any long-form content on YouTube, they’re either not interested in such an important factor in nurturing the audience, or their AI would get exposed if they created anything longer than a 15-second video.”
AI can still be useful in a positive way because it enables influencers to answer nuanced, context-specific questions at scale, even if they have zero knowledge of the subject. However, as Patriki points out, “financial advice requires accountability,” which is not possible if an AI clone operating under someone’s brand gives guidance on a portfolio.
“I think the responsible path is transparency. Clearly disclosing when a response is AI-generated, constraining the AI to educational frameworks based on your content, and ensuring a human review layer exists for high-stakes queries,” the co-founder advised.
The Shift Toward Nano-InfluencersFor brands looking to make an impact, nano-influencers are preferable because they connect significantly with their audience compared to a celebrity whose audience “passively scrolls past.”
With respect to regulation, Patriki argued that unless there is enforcement at the platform level on disclosure laws—such as the “three-second rule”—influencers will simply ignore them.
“Until there’s enforcement on the platform level, it doesn’t make much of a difference what India or the EU is considering to mandate on American platforms,” the co-founder insisted.
Turning to the future, Patriki expects the influencer marketing ecosystem to become overblown with gambling, fake engagement, and undisclosed ads. However, he expects more creators focused on building genuine followership to emerge. In five years, the most valuable thing a creator will own is not their follower count on one platform, but the trust their audience places in their judgment and the reach they have across many platforms.
