After months of legal dispute and public debacles with a sprinkling of threats, the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, has bought Twitter.
The social media platform that serves as a hub for entertainment, news, and crypto and has been declared the “fastest channel through which information (and misinformation) spreads” has been acquired by Musk for $44 billion.
To commemorate the successful purchase, Elon Musk wrote on Twitter, “The bird is free.”
As expected, the news was met with mixed feelings by Twitter users. While some were overjoyed due to the changes, Musk declared he intends to implement, others were not too pleased.
Certainly not the top executives Elon had escorted out of the company after his takeover. Former Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, ex-chief finance officer Ned Segal, and former head of legal policy Vijaya Gadde were some senior officers ousted from Twitter.
Elon’s entry certainly indicates significant changes for the social media platform. But what does it mean for the future of Twitter’s wallet and Web3 exploration?
Twitter Crypto Wallet
We have seen the platform’s attempt to utilize blockchain technologies in its tipping system and Twitter Blue’s NFT profile pictures feature, allowing premium users to connect their wallets and set their NFTs as profile pictures.
And while it has yet to be officially confirmed, sources say that Twitter is working on a crypto wallet prototype to facilitate deposits and withdrawal of cryptocurrencies.
Where Does The Future of Web3 Exploration via Twitter Stand With Elon Musk as CEO?
In a letter to Twitter Advertisers, Elon Musk addressed his motivation for acquiring Twitter. Out of the many reasons he stated, a particular phrase stood out.
“…is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated healthily, without resorting to violence.”
The Web3 vision is to create a digital city through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), peer-to-peer transactions, the metaverse, and more.
With Twitter CEO advocating for the future of civilization as a typical town square where “a wide range of beliefs can be debated without resorting to violence” and the established adoption of blockchain technology, the platform might already be onboarding to become “crypto Twitter.”
Spam Bots
In his statement containing the list of his goals for Twitter, Musk added that he wants to “make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.”
Spam bots have been a significant problem on Twitter, luring and scamming unsuspecting investors, especially in the crypto community. Some have managed to get verified check marks to pose as influential personalities like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and even Musk himself.
Before acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk promised to eliminate spam bots and introduce user authentication.
The problem of spam bots is not only in Twitter crypto communities but also makes up 40% of accounts for Web3 gamers, which is a big turn-off for real users.
If Musk succeeds in curbing the problem, then other Web3-inclined companies will be able to follow suit.
Twitter Ex-Founder’s Plan for Decentralized Social Networks
In 2019, Jack Dorsey announced that his company would fund an independent team- the Bluesky initiative- to develop an open and decentralized standard for social media. The decentralized protocol would be free from governmental influence and centralization.
He made a point of noting that blockchain would be the best technology to provide solutions to centralized problems. He added that the goal is for “Twitter to be a client to this standard ultimately.”
While Dorsey has departed from Twitter, the team recently announced the launch of the AT protocol, which is the decentralized social media protocol.
As a decentralized network that checks the boxes of changes Web3 intends to bring to the social media industry, it spells good news for Web3 exploration.
As it Stands
It doesn’t hurt that Elon Musk owns some BTC and is championed as the father of Dogecoin for his constant tweets, support, and talks about taking DOGE “to the moon.”
SpaceX, the company he owns, has also made public their plans to launch the DOGE-1 satellite mission in 2022, which the cryptocurrency has wholly funded.
As it has been barely a week since he became the CEO of Twitter, it is too early to tell precisely where the future of Twitter’s crypto wallet stands and how Web3 exploration will fare in his hands, as crypto is but a slice of the economy.
