Elon Musk is now the owner of Twitter. What does this mean for crypto-currencies?

Musk’s cryptographic history

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX posted on a video on Twitter showing him entering Twitter headquarters with a sink; the video was captioned “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” (Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!). Since then, Musk has writes an open letter to Twitter advertisers and Retweeted by A photo of him meeting with employees at the Twitter HQ cafe. For all intents and purposes, it now appears that Musk owns the place.

At Twitter headquarters’ coffee bar.@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/vy5Cw7zttf

– Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) October 27, 2022

Musk has had a strange relationship with crypto-currency. Tesla’s decision to buy about $1.5 billion in bitcoins in January 2021 made headlines around the world: Musk himself tweeted, “In retrospect, it was inevitable” the day it was announced. However, the richest man in the world seems to have quickly turned the page on bitcoin and started to focus on money. to promote Dogecoin instead, insisting that the project was much more fun. Musk even joked about the coin meme when he hosted Saturday Night Live in May 2021.

But all was not always rosy. Shortly after his SNL Musk announced that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin payments, citing environmental concerns. The news sent the entire crypto-currency market into a tailspin. Despite the fact that later stating that Tesla would be open to accepting bitcoin payments again once bitcoin mining became a greener industry, Musk never showed the leading crypto-currency the same love as he did originally. A year later, in July 2022, Tesla revealed that it had sold 75% of its bitcoin holdings at a loss.

The billionaire’s plans on Twitter

Musk’s relationship with crypto has had its ups and downs, but his acquisition of Twitter is widely seen as a positive development for Web3. One of the most obvious aspects of this is Musk’s intentions regarding censorship. The billionaire has repeatedly stated that his primary motivation for acquiring Twitter was to promote free speech and foster dialogue around the world. This is good news for the crypto space, as Twitter has become an epicenter of crypto cultural activity. Musk’s permissiveness virtually guarantees that the industry will be able to continue to use the social media platform to grow.

Musk also discussed implementing fiat currency and crypto-currency payment features on Twitter. While he remained tight-lipped about the details, he hinted that payments would allow him to turn the platform into a “universal app“which would be “so convincing that you couldn’t live without it“. It is interesting to note that seems that Twitter is working on integrating crypto-currency wallets into its infrastructure, suggesting that the social media giant is already developing tools in line with Musk’s vision. It wouldn’t be surprising, of course, if Twitter eventually allowed payments in Dogecoin – as Musk has alluded to on multiple occasions.

Another of Musk’s priorities is eliminating bots. Twitter has become infamous for them, and they cause real harm to crypto-currency users by enticing them to click on malicious links. Even the “blue check“Twitter’s “blue check” could not prevent the proliferation of bots, as a staggering number of accounts were able to impersonate verified users such as Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and Binance CEO Changpeng”CZ“Zhao.

Musk has been particularly outspoken on this issue, even going so far as to initially engage in the fight against terrorism. withdraw One of Elon Musk’s proposed solutions was to put Twitter’s anti-bot algorithm up for public review. One of Elon Musk’s proposed solutions was to subject Twitter’s anti-bot algorithm to public scrutiny; another was to add an optional paid service for users to prove their authenticity – a sybil-resistant mechanism that resembles the systems used on blockchains. Whatever form it ultimately takes, Musk’s crusade against bots will most likely make Twitter a safer and more enjoyable experience for crypto-natives.

Finally, Musk’s impulsiveness and famous productivity should be kept in mind. Not all of his projects are as spectacularly successful as Tesla or SpaceX, but he is known for his ability to produce new ideas quickly. As he gains traction on Twitter, it wouldn’t be surprising if he announced more cryptocurrency-related products. For now, we can appreciate that he is an industry ally, even if he is unpredictable.