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- Tesla CEO Musk has sent mixed signals regarding crypto
- Takeover opens up possibilities for blockchain, other features
- DOGE Price at the time of writing – $0.1277
The takeover opens up possibilities for blockchain and other features. As a sign of their crypto support, crypto enthusiasts have long congregated on Twitter, where they have retweeted threads from their favorite founders, posted irreverent memes about rising (and then falling) coin prices, and changed their profile pictures to images of themselves with laser eyes.
BTC Price at the time of writing – $20,719.07
Musk, a prolific tweeter himself, has had a tangled relationship with cryptocurrency, at times appearing to embrace it and at other times denigrating it. This has not stopped supporters of the industry from imagining, under his leadership, an expansion of Twitter’s blockchain features that would broaden mainstream adoption.
Their exuberance may have contributed to the surge in interest in Dogecoin, Musk’s preferred cryptocurrency, in the days leading up to his final agreement. Twitter has also ventured into cryptocurrency. One of the industry’s most well-known proponents of Bitcoin is co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.
Under his direction, the company developed a feature that allowed users to receive tips in Bitcoin, established a Twitter Crypto division, and launched Bluesky, a project to create a decentralized social media network that is now a separate business. Twitter has added Ether tipping, nonfungible token profile pictures, and USD Coin stablecoin payments for a select group of creators since Dorsey left in November.
Under Musk’s leadership, it is unknown what will happen to these endeavors. Musk has a reputation for being erratic when it comes to cryptocurrency and may eliminate the digital-asset team of the platform as other prominent executives leave.
While the CEO of Tesla Inc. has promoted Dogecoin sufficiently on Twitter to earn the moniker “the Dogefather,” he referred to the cryptocurrency as “a hustle” on “Saturday Night Live” in May 2021. In 2021, he also made it possible to pay for Tesla’s electric vehicles using Bitcoin.
ALSO READ: US Voters Who Own Crypto Are on the Rise
Musk initially discussed using blockchain to promote free speech
However, less than two months later, he stopped doing so due to the negative effects that cryptocurrency has on the environment. Musk has appeared to waver on his commitment to cryptocurrencies while putting together the acquisition of Twitter.
In May, the largest digital asset exchange in the world, Binance Holdings Ltd., committed $500 million to Musk’s financing for the deal and is reportedly building a team to investigate how the social media company might benefit from crypto.
Musk initially discussed using blockchain to promote free speech and reduce social media spam in a collection of text messages released as part of litigation over the Twitter deal. However, Musk later wrote that blockchain Twitter isn’t possible.
Even though Twitter would have to integrate these blockchain components into a complicated and closely watched project, Musk’s new leadership still opens the door for their realization.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
