Twitter will start coming out Bitcoin-Based payments features starting Thursday, including support for Lightning walletsas part of a larger plan to support creators on its platforms.
The company announced the features on a call with reporters, noting that “Bitcoin works without global barriers” and stating that its crypto initiatives will help it participate in “the evolution of decentralized news”.
Twitter users will be given two options to use Bitcoin Advice. The first is through a menu of payment options that include Square’s Cash app and Go Fund Me, which will allow users to send tips to a Bitcoin address or send money in a more conventional way.
The other is through Strike, a Bitcoin payment app built on top of the Lightning Network — a so-called layer 2 service that aims to improve speed and reduce transaction costs.
Twitter said that Bitcoin tipping will be available on Thursday to everyone in the world using an iOS device, and that support for Android devices will arrive in the near future. The company sent out a series of tweets illustrating how users can use the crypto tip feature:
The distribution of Bitcoin Cash comes as the company has rapidly accelerated the release of community and payment products to help its users monetize their activity outside the platform. These products, which have been available to a very small group of people, include a service called Super Followers and Spaces, which allow users to organize events for dedicated audiences.
Twitter’s NFT
The company’s announcement on Thursday also included plans to “explore NFTs for authentication.” NFTsalso known as non-fungible tokens, allow people to create unique digital objects in a blockchain.
Twitter provided the image below, titled “Twitter NFTs,” but gave few details on what exactly the company plans to do with them.
“It’s a way to support the creators who make this art with a stamp to demonstrate authenticity,” said Twitter executive Esther Crawford. “By allowing people to link their Bitcoin wallets, they can track and display their NFT ownership on Twitter.”
Crawford also stated that NFTs could come in the form of badges, and “mmake it visually clear this is an authenticated avatar”—suggesting that the tools could complement Twitter’s existing system of providing blue badges to some users.
In response to questions from decodea Twitter spokesperson declined to say which blockchain NFTs will be hosted on, or when exactly the feature will be available.
The company also announced a series of other product updates, including a planned expansion of its 280-character tweet limit, as well as a fund to support creators using Spaces.
