Twitter is launching its own Twitter Coin as it phases out Bitcoin Lighting Network tips

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, many changes have taken place in the way that the social media platform operates. The major change so far that will ensure its longevity pertains to content monetization.

Generating new revenue streams and lowering its costs is not an easy task. Ad revenue is nowhere near able to cover the costs of running the platform. Musk and the new Twitter board are betting into attracting content creators. New changes in Twitter will see it include long form video and text content and at the same time offer some payment services through the site. The bet is that by offering better monetization deals than its competitors they will entice more content creators to exclusively switch to Twitter or cross-post their content on it.

Enter Twitter coin

Binance invested 500 million on Twitter as part of the consortium led by Elon Musk that bought the company. To that, there have been high expectations regarding crypto payment options becoming a prominent feature. Speculations had it that in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum, BNB, Dogecoin and other tokens would be added as crypto-payment options. A crypto wallet integration on Twitter has been heavily rumored.

It looks like that indeed there will be a new payment token but that won't be Dogecoin. Twitter Coin will be the token that Twitter will be releasing according to some information and leaks from people knowledgeable about the topic. Twitter Coin will replace the Bitcoin Lighting Network tipping feature that is being phased out as it didn't see much adoption by users.

We don't know that much about the Twitter coin.

Will it be a cryptocurrency or a simple in-app currency like other apps or mobile games have?

I expect that it will start as a simple in-app currency. This explains Elon's visit at Apple Headquarters. The visit came right after Twitter's new CEO had attacked Apple after its decision to pause ads on Twitter. At the same time Elon was decrying Apple for what he called as the "Apple tax", ergo the 30% App Store fee that was also valid for Twitter Blue. After the visit, Twitter's CEO posted that Apple, the top advertiser on the social media company, had resumed its ads and all outstanding issues had been resolved.

The Twitter Coin will most likely be purchased through the App Store / Play Store. Like other in game coins it might be pegged and redeemable for USD. Twitter users will be able to use it for tipping content creators, and for purchasing features, and in-app products and items.

That's what we know so far about the Twitter Coin. Once more info is made public, there will be a follow up article with more details.