In a bid to become the everything app, Twitter recently announced it is working with trading platform eToro to allow users to utilize its charts by searching for ‘cashtags’ such as $tesla and $doge.
The charts will show the 24-hour performance of the stock or digital currency and will have live links to view it on eToro, where they can be traded for real money.
Critics have called the move highly irresponsible, pointing out that it only makes it easier to gamble on the prices of meme stocks and digital currencies when Twitter-fueled mania takes over.
šVery excited to be launching a new $Cashtags partnership with @Twitter which will enable Twitter users to see real-time prices for a much wider range of stocks, crypto & other assets as well as having the option to invest through eToro. @elonmusk https://t.co/Iv2q9iNxbf
— eToro (@eToro) April 13, 2023
Musk is flirting with regulatory penalties
While breaking the rules and norms of how business is done is par for the course with Elon Musk, promoting the trading of digital currencies the SEC Chairman has dubbed “mostly securities” is asking for trouble.
It wouldn’t be the first time Musk has fallen afoul of the U.S. securities regulator. In 2018,Ā he was charged with securities fraudĀ for a series of misleading Tweets. Musk had Tweeted that he was planning to take Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) private at $420 and that funding was secured.
Will Musk have to walk back the decision to integrate live links to a trading platform that the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority once called out for running irresponsible and misleading ads? If the SEC is indeed correct that most digital currencies are illegal securities, there could be more trouble ahead for the maverick CEO.
How Musk could actually make Twitter better with blockchain technology
Rather than promoting gambling on digital currencies, which has already ruined countless lives, Musk, as a technology leader, could be using blockchain technology to improve Twitter.
Using a scalable utility blockchain like BSV, Musk could create a social media platform none of his rivals could touch. It would be able to:
Facilitate micropayments –Ā Rather than merely receiving ‘hearts’ for providing useful, entertaining, or informative Tweets, journalists, influencers, and content creators could receiveĀ micropayments, incentivizing them to create more by financially rewarding them for doing so.
Apps likeĀ TonicPowĀ have already shown how even those who retweet and amplify content could receive a cut of any subsequent micropayments, supercharging Twitter and putting it lightyears ahead of other social media platforms.
Heck, if he wanted to, Musk could set it up so that Twitter receives a small cut of every micropayment. This would provide an alternative income stream for the platform that many advertisers have abandoned, encouraging people to earn and spend within the Twitter economy.
Opening up new ways to earn for Tweeting could not only incentivize people to create better quality content on Twitter, but it could also bring in legions of new users from all over the world who would suddenly have a new way to make money.
Stamp out crime –Ā Musk must be commended for his commitment to stamp out the sharing of the unmentionable on Twitter. So far, according to those who monitor this sort of thing, there has been a dramatic improvement in that department.
Musk could take this to the next level by having all Twitter users log in with a wallet linked to a verified identity. Users could still post under pseudonyms if they need or want to, protecting their privacy, but Twitter would know who they are without having to store their data, and it could quickly pass details along to the relevant authorities when the law is violated on the platform.
If someone is tweeting about plans to blow up the subway in New York, or another user shares inappropriate images of children, machine learning could detect it, and Twitter could immediately report it. Since users would be logged in via a wallet linked to their identity, it’s doubtful they’d share this sort of content in the first place.
Musk can live by his commitment to freedom of speech while taking out the trash and cleaning Twitter up at the same time. Two birds, one stone!
Create total transparency –Ā Musk has already exposed what used to go on at Twitter by releasing theĀ Twitter Files, which created quite a stir. He has committed to running the platform more fairly, giving all points of view a chance to be heard and eliminating practices like shadowbanning.
UsingĀ BSV’s data management capabilities, Musk could create a company where true accountability reigns supreme. Every decision to ban a user or take any other form of action could be time-stamped and cryptographically signed by the person making the decision, ensuring there’s no obfuscation when actions need to be challenged.
If Musk really wants to know what’s happening within an organization the size of Twitter, and what’s happening on the platform itself, there’s no better way than by having significant actions recorded in real-time on the blockchain. This could even extend to user interactions if he wished.
If in the future anyone accuses Twitter of being biased or operating in the shadows as the previous team did, Musk could prove, using immutable data on the blockchain, that the accusations are false, and where they are found to be true, could take corrective action.
All of this is better than promoting digital currency speculation
Musk is one of the leading voices for technological advancement, speaking about and working in fields like electric vehicles, space flight, and artificial intelligence. He genuinely wants to make the world a better place using cutting-edge technology.
Integrating Twitter with the BSV blockchain is one way to put a dent in the universe relatively quickly. Everyone, including Twitter, would be better off for it, and the realization of what the blockchain can do for humanity would spread much faster.
Bitcoin is so much more than a token to gamble on, and Musk is in a position to disseminate the knowledge of what it can really do extremely quickly. Let’s hope he realizes and does so sooner rather than later. I won’t hold my breath, but I will hold onto hope.
Watch: The Future World with Blockchain
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
