Twitter to launch crypto team to support digital asset and Dapp adoption
- Twitter is building a cryptocurrency team to integrate digital currencies and Dapps on the platform in the future.
- The social media company recently made a new hire to lead the Twitter crypto team.
- Other social networks have also begun dabbling in the cryptocurrency space, as competition arises.
Jack Dorsey’s latest move to embrace cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications involves creating a dedicated crypto team at Twitter. The social media firm recently made a new hire to lead the new digital asset team, which will set the strategy for the future of the new asset class at and on Twitter.
Twitter goes all-in on crypto
Bitcoin enthusiast Dorsey has long hinted at integrating cryptocurrencies into the future of Twitter, following the introduction of Bitcoin support to his payments company Square.
Earlier this year, Twitter stated that it would be introducing a new tool to allow users on the platform to send tips for content creators using the leading cryptocurrency. The social media firm also said that it was creating a new feature to verify non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Twitter recently hired a new lead for the crypto team, Tess Rinearson, who will be setting the strategy for the future of crypto on the platform.
Rinearson would also be overseeing and building on the cryptocurrency efforts, to explore the decentralization of social media.
Rinearson said that firstly, the team would be exploring how Twitter can support the growing interest among creators to use Dapps to manage virtual goods and digital assets. She added that the social media platform would also look to explore ideas from crypto communities to push the boundaries of identity, community, ownership and more.
The digital asset team, Twitter Crypto, will work closely with the social network-sponsored initiative Bluesky, which aims to build an open decentralized standard for social media. The Bluesky protocol would not be controlled by one single entity, even though the development is driven by Twitter.
Other social platforms, including Reddit and Discord, have also indicated that they are exploring options to integrate with decentralized applications (Dapps) and embrace certain concepts of web3 on their platforms. Discord’s CEO Jason Citron hinted that the platform is working on an integration with crypto wallet MetaMask, while Reddit is hiring engineers for an NFT platform.
Author
Sarah Tran
Independent Analyst
Sarah has closely followed the growth of blockchain technology and its adoption since 2016.
