Alan Draper Last updated: Elon Musk has turned his sights on Twitter. In the past few weeks, Musk began by tweeting out a poll asking his 81 million followers about potential changes to the platform. Shortly after, he announced buying a 9.2% stake in the company, and then turned down a board seat after finding that joining the board would limit him from buying more of Twitter.
Now, Musk has made an offer to buy Twitter outright. His offer values the company at around $ 43 billion in cash, while Twitter’s market cap currently sits at $ 37 billion. Musk’s net worth is estimated at $ 260 billion. The news has driven up Twitter’s share price by more than 13%.
While Musk’s takeover is far from a done deal – Twitter employees and board members have expressed reservations about giving up the company to Musk – it could mean big changes ahead for Twitter. Musk has suggested that he would take Twitter private in order to make a number of unspecified changes to the company.
What would those changes be? Musk has hinted at some of his intentions, including allowing users to edit their tweets and giving paying Twitter Blue users a verified checkmark on their accounts. But a bigger transformation could be in store, especially given Musk’s history of campaigning for wider cryptocurrency adoption with his Twitter account.
Here are 5 potential ways that Elon Musk could use his takeover to transform Twitter and make the platform a vanguard for the crypto economy.
1. Accept Crypto Payments
It seems likely that one of the first changes Musk will make to Twitter is to make crypto payments the norm on the platform. Already, Twitter allows users to tip one another in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Musk could expand the range of coins to include his beloved Dogecoin as well as a wide range of Ethereum competitors.
It also seems likely that Musk will allow users to pay for Twitter Blue and other Twitter products with crypto. If Musk really wants to push crypto adoption along, he could offer discounts for paying in crypto as opposed to cash. He could even tip the scales in favor of one specific crypto – like Dogecoin – by offering more discounts for paying with that coin.
2. Move Twitter onto the Blockchain
A more transformational move that Musk could make is to move Twitter onto the blockchain. This could be done in a number of different ways, but essentially tweets would be treated like transactions currently are for cryptocurrencies. Every time a user tweets, that data is recorded onto a custom Twitter blockchain.
Notably, this has the potential to put an end to something Musk hates – Twitter spambots. Validating tweets on the Twitter blockchain could include checks for whether the user’s account has characteristics of a bot, making it much harder for spam to make its way onto the network.
3. Release a Twitter Coin
It seems like it would only be a matter of time before a Twitter run by Elon Musk releases its own cryptocurrency. Having a cryptocurrency makes Twitter an integral part of the crypto economy.
Importantly, this coin could also serve to provide voting rights in a potential Twitter DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). In a world where Twitter is private, a Twitter coin could allow users a say in what changes Musk makes to the platform going forward.
4. Offer Rewards for Activity on Twitter
Another advantage to launching a native cryptocurrency for Twitter is that it opens up the possibility of rewarding users. Every time a user tweets, for example, they can earn Twitter coins. Twitter Blue users could stand to earn more rewards, and Twitter can introduce more premium products that users can spend their Twitter coin to purchase. Twitter would transform itself into a tweet-to-earn network, similar to play-to-earn crypto games.
The upside to this approach is that it encourages more activity on Twitter. While Twitter has never been idle, rewarding users provides motivation for superusers like Musk to stay on the platform – and for people who have long been on Twitter but who haven’t said much to tweet their ideas.
5. Launch a Crypto Exchange
Musk could also transform Twitter into a crypto exchange. There’s good reason for doing so – adding exchange features would add a potentially significant new revenue stream for Twitter while also encouraging the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies.
A Twitter crypto exchange would go toe-to-toe with major exchanges like eToro, Coinbase, Binance, and others. But it would have some advantages. Twitter’s social network is already primed for crypto traders and investors. In addition, people who have never bought or sold cryptocurrency before are already on Twitter. Adding exchange features to a platform they already use could be just the nudge they need to buy crypto.
It remains to be seen whether Elon Musk’s bid to take over Twitter will succeed. If it does, big changes could be in store for the social platform – including the introduction of transformative new crypto features.
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