Jack Dorsey, a man of few profile words (Source: Twitter / @Jack)
In addition to his affinity for beards, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has long signaled his interest in crypto:
- His Twitter bio says one thing: “#bitcoin”
- The blue bird app is working on a decentralized protocol
- Square — the other company he runs — grew in part due to its crypto trading platform
Last week, Twitter rolled out…
… 2 very notable crypto-friendly features
The social network previously tested a “Tip Jar” for fans to give their favorite creators money. Users will soon be able to tip profiles with bitcoin, per TechCrunch.
Next up: non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
These digital assets — often JPEG artwork — have exploded in popularity and are often used as profile pictures. Twitter is working on a solution to authenticate whether a user actually owns said JPEG. (Tech journalist Casey Newton says the move could help take NFTs “mainstream.”)
Twitter is speeding up product development…
… after years of stagnant growth. TechCrunch highlights a suite of recent feature:
- Social audio: Spaces is its Clubhouse clone (Twitter will also launch a creator fund to support audio content)
- Newsletters: After acquiring Revue, Twitter users can post their newsletters right in their bio for easy subscriber sign-ups
- ‘Communities’: A new option for users to tweet to a select group of followers who share a common interest (instead of the entire network)
Further, Twitter began trialling its first subscription product — Twitter Blue — over the summer.
The most recent announcements come as Twitter agreed to pay $809.5m to settle a 2016 suit charging it misled investors about user engagement. If these new tools work, Twitter’s actual engagement should explode.
