Unless you've been living under an (ether) rock, you will have heard the news that Elon Musk has made a bid to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. So what does this actually mean for the future of Twitter and its users? What can we expect when one of the biggest influencers in the crypto space owns the platform where the majority of the world’s crypto discussion happens? We’ve waded through all the chatter to find out, and taken a look at some of the changes happening that we’re actually excited about. 

Back in January 2022, Twitter launched a feature that allows subscribers of their paid Twitter Blue service to link their ether wallet to their Twitter account. As a result, any NFTs they own that are stored in their wallet can be verified by Twitter and then displayed as a PFP (profile picture). Not only is this an exciting step forward for one of the biggest social media platforms (and they’ve since been followed by Meta), but it’s a big step forward for the NFT space as well. It means mainstream adoption and better understanding of what NFTs are, how they can be used, and why they matter. Although Twitter users have been displaying NFTs as their profile pictures for some time now, this feature actually captures the authenticity and ownership that NFTs are fundamentally all about. Users can’t just display any PFP they like - they have to actually own it. This adds value to the image, which is often a unique artwork by a digital artist, and in turn that artist gains more exposure. More visibility and adoption of NFTs encourages other creators and collectors to enter the space too, so it’s a yes from us! 

Elon’s main beef with Twitter as it currently stands is the amount of bots and spam accounts on the platform. Twitter claims that only 5% of its active accounts are bots; Elon vehemently disputes this. He’s also made a lot of noise about freedom of speech and de-censoring the platform, posting back in April 2022 that “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” But will Elon’s vows to democratize Twitter extend to making integrated NFT features available to all users, including those who aren’t paid subscribers? We sure hope so.

Aside from NFTs, Twitter’s future owner has also hinted that cryptocurrency payments could be more fully integrated on the platform, which already has functionality for BTC and ETH ‘tips’. At a June 16th Twitter meeting Musk said, “It would make sense to integrate (crypto) payments into Twitter so it's easy to send money back and forth." This would easily allow artists to gather financial support from their fans and collectors with the freedom and decentralized nature of cryptocurrency payments. Could it also mean the possibility of NFT sales directly via Twitter?

While that remains to be seen, there’s more work going on behind the scenes to integrate NFTs with Twitter that we can’t wait to see. The developers are working on a new ‘Collectible’ tab, where users would be able to display the NFTs they own for their followers to see. This is something that we’re super excited about, because a feature like this would give creators and collectors alike the ability to curate and display their NFTs all in one place, beyond a single PFP. Although these are only small steps towards full integration, Twitter’s adoption of cryptocurrency and NFTs signal to us that the company is committed to helping digital artists and creators share their unique artwork with the world as NFTs. And one can only hope that with Elon at the wheel, things will continue to evolve and improve. 

Unless you've been living under an (ether) rock, you will have heard the news that Elon Musk has made a bid to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. So what does this actually mean for the future of Twitter and its users? What can we expect when one of the biggest influencers in the crypto space owns the platform where the majority of the world’s crypto discussion happens? We’ve waded through all the chatter to find out, and taken a look at some of the changes happening that we’re actually excited about. 

Back in January 2022, Twitter launched a feature that allows subscribers of their paid Twitter Blue service to link their ether wallet to their Twitter account. As a result, any NFTs they own that are stored in their wallet can be verified by Twitter and then displayed as a PFP (profile picture). Not only is this an exciting step forward for one of the biggest social media platforms (and they’ve since been followed by Meta), but it’s a big step forward for the NFT space as well. It means mainstream adoption and better understanding of what NFTs are, how they can be used, and why they matter. Although Twitter users have been displaying NFTs as their profile pictures for some time now, this feature actually captures the authenticity and ownership that NFTs are fundamentally all about. Users can’t just display any PFP they like - they have to actually own it. This adds value to the image, which is often a unique artwork by a digital artist, and in turn that artist gains more exposure. More visibility and adoption of NFTs encourages other creators and collectors to enter the space too, so it’s a yes from us! 

Elon’s main beef with Twitter as it currently stands is the amount of bots and spam accounts on the platform. Twitter claims that only 5% of its active accounts are bots; Elon vehemently disputes this. He’s also made a lot of noise about freedom of speech and de-censoring the platform, posting back in April 2022 that “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” But will Elon’s vows to democratize Twitter extend to making integrated NFT features available to all users, including those who aren’t paid subscribers? We sure hope so.

Aside from NFTs, Twitter’s future owner has also hinted that cryptocurrency payments could be more fully integrated on the platform, which already has functionality for BTC and ETH ‘tips’. At a June 16th Twitter meeting Musk said, “It would make sense to integrate (crypto) payments into Twitter so it's easy to send money back and forth." This would easily allow artists to gather financial support from their fans and collectors with the freedom and decentralized nature of cryptocurrency payments. Could it also mean the possibility of NFT sales directly via Twitter?

While that remains to be seen, there’s more work going on behind the scenes to integrate NFTs with Twitter that we can’t wait to see. The developers are working on a new ‘Collectible’ tab, where users would be able to display the NFTs they own for their followers to see. This is something that we’re super excited about, because a feature like this would give creators and collectors alike the ability to curate and display their NFTs all in one place, beyond a single PFP. Although these are only small steps towards full integration, Twitter’s adoption of cryptocurrency and NFTs signal to us that the company is committed to helping digital artists and creators share their unique artwork with the world as NFTs. And one can only hope that with Elon at the wheel, things will continue to evolve and improve.