Twitter is going all-in on crypto

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.