By Landon Manning
Using the Bitcoin Lightning Network, Twitter’s executives are planning to add some new features.
Twitter’s founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, has long affirmed his support for Bitcoin and the potential that a trustless and decentralized currency can offer to the world. But even so, his public statements regarding the asset have increased over the month of August 2021. On August 17, Dorsey claimed that he was personally trying his hand at bitcoin mining using Compass Mining, and by the end of the month he was openly acknowledging plans formulated between his various companies to help make bitcoin the “native currency of the internet.”
On September 1, tweets from Italian software developer and self-proclaimed leaker Alessandro Paluzzi showed screenshots of what is presumably an internal document from Twitter, briefly summarizing a new strategy to leverage the Strike platform and the Lightning Network to allow Twitter users to receive tips in bitcoin. Paluzzi added to these tweets the following day, showing some of the new user interface, including the options to include addresses for bitcoin and ether directly on user profiles, as well as the ability to send tips in these currencies on Twitter’s own app. Although not directly included in the screenshots, Paluzzi also reaffirmed that Strike will be helping set up the project’s back end, mentioning that, “It is not necessary to link a Strike account to add [the wallet addresses] to your profile.”
Although many wild claims are made in the world of internet software leaks, a Twitter executive has amplified these rumors. Twitter Product Lead Kayvon Beykpou’s confirmation of these rumors included as little additional information as possible, except for two emojis: a lightning bolt, and “soon.”
Since then, Twitter has been very tight-lipped about any further specifics, directing the press to refer to previous comments made by Dorsey and other Twitter executives during the summer. Those comments, made at the company’s second quarter earnings report in July, were explicit confirmations that bitcoin would play “a big part” in Twitter’s future.
Many are also relying on Dorsey’s most recent pro-Bitcoin comments, such as his work on a new hardware wallet, and support for a new and “open, decentralized standard for social media.” But as of yet, no further updates exist as to the planned timetable for this new rollout onto some 180 million users on this social media platform.
However, one thing’s for certain, as evidenced by bitcoin’s new rise in valuation: substantial support from firms like Twitter offers a positive bitcoin.
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