After months of dramatic back-and-forth, Elon Musk has taken management of Twitter Inc., igniting feelings starting from hope to anxiousness amongst customers who’re bracing themselves for a way the billionaire will put his stamp on the social-media platform. Crypto Twitter isn’t any exception.
Digital-asset lovers have lengthy congregated on Twitter, the place they’ve modified their profile photos to pictures of themselves with “laser eyes” as a sign of their crypto help, posted irreverent memes about rising (after which falling) coin costs and re-tweeted threads from their favourite founders.
Musk, a prolific tweeter himself, has had a sophisticated relationship with crypto, seeming to embrace it one minute and belittle it the subsequent. That hasn’t stopped trade supporters from imagining an growth of Twitter’s blockchain options underneath his administration that will broaden mainstream adoption. Their elation has doubtless helped increase curiosity in Dogecoin, Musk’s token of selection, which has soared days main as much as his lastly sealing the deal.
When you’re nonetheless not making an attempt to grasp crypto & meme cash after @elonmusk shopping for Twitter then you’re about to be very disenchanted you didn’t. 💎🤷🏻♂️
— Joey Hickson (@joeyhickson) October 28, 2022
Twitter has made its personal forays into crypto. Co-founder and former Chief Govt Officer Jack Dorsey is without doubt one of the trade’s most well-known Bitcoin bulls, and underneath his management, the corporate launched a characteristic to let customers obtain ideas in Bitcoin, constructed a Twitter Crypto division and began Bluesky, a mission devoted to constructing a decentralized social media community that’s now an impartial firm. Since Dorsey’s departure final November, Twitter has added Ether tipping, nonfungible token profile photos and USD Coin stablecoin funds for a choose group of creators.
It’s unclear what’s going to occur to those efforts underneath the management of Musk, who’s been notoriously mercurial about crypto and will clear out the platform’s digital-asset workforce as different high-profile executives exit. Whereas the Tesla Inc. CEO has touted Dogecoin on Twitter sufficient to earn the moniker “the Dogefather,” he referred to as the token “a hustle” when he hosted “Saturday Night time Stay” in Could 2021. He additionally added the power to pay in Bitcoin for Tesla’s electrical autos in 2021, however ended the observe lower than two months later, citing the cryptocurrency’s environmental impression.
In placing collectively the Twitter acquisition, Musk has appeared to waver on his dedication to crypto. Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest digital-asset trade, dedicated $500 million to Musk’s financing for the deal in Could and is reportedly constructing a workforce targeted on exploring how crypto could possibly be helpful to the social media firm. In a trove of textual content messages launched as a part of litigation over the Twitter deal, Musk initially mentioned utilizing blockchain to advertise free speech and cut back spam on social media, solely to jot down later that “blockchain Twitter isn’t potential.”
But when Musk did determine to have crypto play an even bigger position on Twitter, listed here are some methods he might do it:
Bots and spam on Twitter are big ache factors for Musk, and helped spark a contentious authorized battle that put his acquisition of the corporate in jeopardy. The problem is especially necessary in crypto, the place spam accounts impersonate well-known figures like Musk with a purpose to promote scams involving faux crypto giveaways. However some digital-asset lovers consider that utilizing blockchain might assist cut back bots on Twitter. A blockchain-based identification verification device or an NFT passport could possibly be choices for selling Musk’s aim of desirous to “authenticate all actual people”on Twitter.
Freedom of speech is near Musk’s coronary heart, and he intends to elevate the corporate’s lifelong bans on customers. These values align with these of many crypto believers devoted to the ethos of decentralization promoted by blockchain. They assume {that a} single entity shouldn’t make main selections over how a platform is managed.
Whereas Musk might doubtlessly implement a token-based voting system that permits customers to have extra say over what occurs on Twitter, it’s necessary to notice that his potential embrace of crypto is a doubled-edged sword. Whereas including extra crypto components on Twitter might increase mainstream utilization of digital belongings, it can additional consolidate Musk’s affect over an trade that many need to be as decentralized as potential.
Musk has already expressed ambitions of turning Twitter right into a “tremendous app” and spoken admirably of China’s WeChat platform, which might deal with messaging, video games, funds and video streaming. With different aspiring tremendous app creators like Revolut Ltd. increasing into crypto, it will make sense if Musk’s imaginative and prescient included digital belongings as nicely. Permitting extra cryptocurrencies for tipping could possibly be a primary step, with Dogecoin being a possible high candidate given Musk’s love of the token.
Different mainstream social media platforms like Instagram are diving additional into NFTs. Although Musk has mocked these belongings up to now, together with Twitter’s resolution to permit authenticated NFT profile photos, he might introduce extra NFT options, corresponding to a market or the power for customers to create a profile represented by an NFT that offers them higher possession over their content material — a observe already carried out by decentralized social media platform Lens Protocol.
These measures might be certain that Twitter doesn’t fall behind different social media giants when it comes to crypto adoption.
Whereas integrating these blockchain components can be a posh and intently watched endeavor for Twitter, Musk’s new reign nonetheless opens up the potential for them to turn into a actuality.