Twitter Building Crypto Team

Twitter Establishes Dedicated Crypto Team

Do you recall Twitter's previous ventures into the realm of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the implementation of Bitcoin tipping? Considering that Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Twitter, prominently features "#bitcoin" in his official bio, the company’s interest in cryptocurrency and decentralized technologies is logical.

Twitter has now announced the formal creation of a crypto team. This team is intended to function as a central hub for expertise encompassing blockchain technology and Web3, as reported to TechCrunch.

Focus Areas for the New Team

Initially, the team’s efforts will concentrate on investigating cryptocurrency payments – including Bitcoin tips and crypto payments for Ticketed Spaces. They will also explore avenues for enhanced creator monetization, such as NFT tooling, and the potential for decentralizing social media, aligning with the broader Web3 movement.

According to a Twitter thread published by Tess Rinearson, the engineer appointed to lead this team, Twitter Crypto aims to “expand the possibilities surrounding identity, community, ownership, and related concepts.”

Decentralization and its Implications

While crypto payments and NFT integration represent readily achievable goals in the near term, this initiative signifies a larger strategic shift by Twitter towards decentralizing social media.

This decentralization would enable networks to operate independently on the blockchain, rather than relying on centralized servers maintained by companies like Amazon Web Services (AWS). The core principle is to empower individual users with greater control over their data and privacy.

However, certain researchers have expressed concerns regarding the challenges of content moderation within these decentralized systems, particularly concerning the handling of extremist political content.

Bluesky and Broader Industry Trends

Twitter Crypto will collaborate closely with bluesky, a developing Twitter-supported project. Bluesky is focused on establishing an open, decentralized standard for social media.

Similar to how no single financial institution governs cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, the bluesky protocol will not be controlled by any single social network, despite being developed under Twitter’s guidance.

Twitter is not alone in exploring blockchain technology. This week, Jason Citron, the founder and CEO of Discord, hinted at a potential integration between Discord and MetaMask, a widely used crypto wallet service.

Furthermore, Reddit is currently recruiting engineers to develop an NFT platform.