·Technology blogger Jane Manchen Wong recently said that Twitter is developing a prototype to support cryptocurrency wallets. Twitter will begin supporting Bitcoin tipping in September 2021, support Ethereum in early 2022, and also add support for NFTs.
·Musk wants to create a multi-functional platform or super application like WeChat, which not only has comprehensive payment capabilities, but also advanced communication functions, a dividend mechanism for content creators, and an easy-to-enter interface. It is reported that X-App will support multiple digital currencies.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, which has been tossing for months, is about to come to fruition. If the deal is completed, a recurring question will surface: Will Musk, a crypto enthusiast, turn Twitter into a Web 3.0 platform that supports crypto wallets?
According to news coming out on October 26, people familiar with the matter revealed that Musk has told collaborators who are raising funds that he is ready to complete the acquisition of Twitter by the 28th. Just the day before, news broke that the social media giant was developing a cryptocurrency wallet that would support deposits and withdrawals.
Musk has changed his self-introduction on his Twitter account to "Chief Twit."
Holding the sink into the headquarters, Musk is about to complete the acquisition
Sequoia Capital, Binance, the Qatar Investment Authority and other partners have received financing commitment documents from Musk’s lawyers. This news means that Musk will comply with the order of the U.S. Delaware judge and complete the transaction before the 28th.
To complete the acquisition, Musk will raise $46.5 billion through equity and debt. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have pledged to provide $13 billion in debt financing, while Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will provide $7.1 billion as equity investors.
According to data provided by MarketWatch, Twitter has a market value of approximately $38.18 billion and has 765.25 million shares outstanding. The acquisition gave the struggling social media company a shot in the arm. Twitter is expected to earn more than $6 billion in profits after the acquisition is completed. Twitter's stock has risen about 30% in the three months since news of the acquisition broke.
As the acquisition process is about to be completed, Musk, as the quasi-owner, personally visited the office of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on the 26th. And tweeted: "I've entered the Twitter headquarters, let that sink in!"
"Let that sink in" is a common phrase on social media. It is usually used after saying something interesting or announcing an important event, saying that this is just the beginning, and asking everyone to pay more attention to the follow-up. And Musk actually walked into the Twitter headquarters holding a big sink, with happiness written all over his face!
The implication of this move is profound. The acquisition of Twitter is only the first step. Encrypted wallets, X-App… Musk's wonderful plans may be yet to come.
Musk carried the sink to the office of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on the 26th.
Twitter is rumored to be launching wallet feature
Before the acquisition, Twitter was also moving in the direction of Web 3.0. In the future, its functions may continue to be developed and improved to support the use of digital assets.
Technology blogger Jane Manchen Wong recently said that Twitter is developing a prototype to support cryptocurrency wallets. It is reported that Twitter’s encrypted wallet “will make it possible to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrency.”
As of now, Twitter has not officially responded to the information disclosed by Jane Manchun Wong, and it has not publicly announced any such products.
In fact, Twitter began exploring introducing various cryptocurrency-related features to its platform as early as a year ago. Twitter began supporting users to tip creators using Bitcoin in September 2021, and Ethereum in February 2022.
In early 2022, Twitter also added support for NFTs (non-fungible tokens), allowing users to replace their avatars and profile pictures with NFTs. In October, Twitter launched a feature called "Tweet Tiles" for NFTs, allowing developers and NFT collectors to expand the NFT experience by creating posts and enhancing visual displays.
Musk also made bold statements during the acquisition to combat spam on the Twitter platform and consider using small-amount encrypted payments. All the above functions are inseparable from the support of encrypted wallets. If Twitter really launches its own encrypted wallet, it will greatly reduce the complexity of transactions and improve practicality. Twitter, a social media based on content creation, will also become a mature Web 3.0 platform.
For the super application X-App envisioned by Musk?
Although Musk mocked Web 3.0 as a marketing term last year, his actions show that he is paying close attention to the trend.
Musk previously announced that acquiring Twitter would help accelerate the development of X-App, the full-featured all-in-one application he envisioned, and could shorten the process by three to five years. "Buying Twitter was the catalyst for creating X-App," he said.
The billionaire wants to build a multi-functional platform or super application like WeChat, with not only comprehensive payment capabilities, but also advanced communication functions, a profit-sharing mechanism for content creators, and an easy-to-enter interface.
Musk previously said: "I think this is a real opportunity. In China, people basically live on WeChat. If we can do this, it will be a huge success."
It is reported that Musk’s X-App will support multiple digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ripple and Dogecoin. Not only that, Musk can also develop new App Tokens for his X-App. From this point of view, Twitter’s encrypted wallet may be an introduction.
Musk has previously admired cryptocurrencies. He tweeted in 2019 that Dogecoin was his favorite digital currency, and changed his Twitter account information to "former CEO of Dogecoin", causing the stock price of Dogecoin to rise from US$0.002 on April 1 of that year to US$0.004 on April 4. Tesla also supported users to directly purchase cars with Bitcoin on March 24, 2021 for the first time.
In the era of Web 3.0, major social media are eager to try
As one of the Internet giants entering Web 3.0, Twitter's layout is very forward-looking.
In the Web 2.0 era, content between social media could not be interoperable, and the fan base accumulated on a certain platform could not be moved to other platforms. These problems will be solved in Web 3.0. Web 3.0 can create an open ecosystem, realize new digital forms, and give individuals more rights to control content. This new decentralized model will undoubtedly inject new vitality into Twitter and may even further expand the size of its user base.
Web 3.0 is the new high ground that social media giants such as Reddit, Discord, and Meta will compete for. Although these social media have different forms, Reddit was originally a forum, similar to Tianya and Hupu; Twitter is similar to Weibo; Discord was initially used by users as a game voice platform. However, they all rely on their own characteristics and advantages to enter Web 3.0.
Reddit has been quite successful in the Web 3.0 field recently. Its second batch of collectible avatar NFTs sold out within 24 hours after its launch, and the transaction volume exceeded US$7 million in a short period of time. It attracted more than 3 million users to use Reddit's Vault wallet to create encrypted addresses, of which 2.5 million wallets were created to purchase NFTs launched by Reddit.
Discord, which supports users to build their own servers for communication, has become a destination for various Web 3.0 projects, attracting investor communities and start-up companies in the fields of NFT, DAO, and encryption. Discord has become almost an infrastructure presence in the crypto space. Collab.Land plugin for Discord that allows holders of digital currencies or NFTs to access private channels. In segmented channels, users can use Tip (accepting cryptocurrency tips) and Piggy (RPG game with cryptocurrency rewards).
Entering Web 3.0 has also provided convenience for Meta’s metaverse. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the expansion of NFT testing for creators so that more creators can display their NFTs on Instagram. In the future, users can even cross-post on Instagram and Facebook to open up the barriers between the two. Previously, Facebook Pay officially changed its name to Meta Pay. Zuckerberg called this change the "first step" for Meta to create a digital wallet to realize its metaverse vision.
References:
https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/will-twitter-turn-into-a-web3-platform-with-wallet-support-for-crypto-202210251323
Twitter Partners with Major NFT Marketplaces to Launch New Web3-Focused Feature
https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/22/10/29387913/is-elon-musk-finally-giving-utility-to-dogecoin-twitter-reportedly-working-on-crypto-walle
