Twitter

Facebook and Twitter will soon be obsolete thanks to blockchain technology

On Web2 — Twitter and Facebook — users do not own their own content or followers. That isn’t the case on Web3, where our corporate overseers will become powerless.

Today’s social media landscape is dominated by Web2 corporations — mostly Meta (Facebook) and Twitter. The companies collect data from billions of users and collect billions of dollars in revenue from user-generated content. While it’s great for the corporations and their shareholders, it comes at a cost for average users and professional content creators.

But in the near future, decentralized social media — or Web3 — is likely to end that old model by giving power back to users.

No more evicting unruly users

Because platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are centralized, users are at the mercy of company bosses, who demand compliance with their platform policies. If users fail to comply, they can lose content and followers they spent years building up in just a matter of seconds.

A famous example is Twitter’s ban on former President Donald Trump. While you may debate Trump’s views, the decision by Twitter management did not include millions of Twitter users who make the platform so valuable. It showed how little control Web2 users hold over Twitter’s decisions related to their content, even though they are the ones creating value for the company.

The beauty of Web3? Corporate bosses will no longer be able to dictate who is allowed to use their platforms.

Another problem with Web2 social networks? Walled gardens

Another problem with Web2 social media is that it has been characterized by “walled gardens.” If you have 1 million followers on Instagram and want to start an account on YouTube, you need to start with zero followers. There is no way to move your audience over because they are connected to the individual platforms, not to you. That applies even to platforms owned by the same company — such as Facebook and Instagram.

Related: Decentralized social media: The next big thing in crypto?

Web3 introduces solutions to reduce the number of intermediaries, create an open ecosystem, enable new forms of monetization, and give individuals more power not only over their content but also over their followers.

New blockchains on the horizon

Multiple platforms have launched what may supplant the social media industry on Web2. They include the Aave team’s Lens Protocol and the Andreessen Horowitz-backed DeSo. Both are built to host decentralized social media apps. They already have numerous live applications, including Lenster, Phaver, Iris (decentralized Twitter) and LensTube (decentralized YouTube).

How do they work? With Lens, for example, users can utilize a nonfungible token (NFT) to link their content and followers directly to a cryptocurrency wallet. That means zero dependencies on the individual platform because they hold cross-platform access to their followers.

If a user posts something, it’s automatically shared across all platforms they use. And because their followers are linked across platforms, they have the same number of followers on every platform. If a new platform emerges, users do not have to build their audience all over again. In Web2 terms, it’s like having an account linked directly to the internet instead of one linked to Facebook’s closed ecosystem.

Direct user monetization instead of advertisements

Another feature of Web3 social media is that rather than generating revenue from advertising, users have the ability to monetize their work directly. The model incentivizes users to publish much better content. It’s simplified by allowing creators to set a fee for “collecting” their posts — or to set a fee for following them. The revenue then flows directly to the creator, not to the platform.

Influencers will accelerate adoption

Some critics argue that Web2 social media has such a head start that it will be impossible for Web3 social to catch up. But the reality is that the benefits of decentralized social media are so substantial that big content creators will transition, bringing their audiences with them.

Related: The metaverse will change the paradigm of content creation

There are already many examples of prominent influencers who have their own social media platforms because the corporate platforms would not allow them to share their content anymore. Web3 offers an obvious solution for the growing number of those who have been banned from Web2.

Providing ownership over their own content and followers? Easy ways to generate revenue from their work? Connecting it all with easy-to-use NFTs? What is there to complain about? Blockchain technology is bringing us a social-media space that rewards users — not platforms — and is better than any we’ve dreamed of in the past.

Darius Moukhtarzadeh is a cryptocurrency entrepreneur focused on decentralized social- media applications. He previously worked as a researcher for Sygnum, the world’s first digital asset bank. He also worked for Ernst & Young in blockchain consultancy and for several startups in the Swiss Crypto Valley.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Twitter chases Citadel’s founder, Binance in a race of subpoenas

The company is gathering all the possible information on Elon Musk’s private claims about its number of fake accounts.

As the failed acquisition of social platform Twitter by one of the world’s richest men, Elon Musk, turned into a protracted court conflict, both sides are filing subpoenas to gather information ahead of the first hearing. 

Recent reports claim that Twitter has made an effort to serve subpoenas to Ken Griffin, the founder of hedge fund Citadel, and to major crypto exchange Binance.

According to Bloomberg on Aug. 1, the delivery was attempted at both the Citadel office on Lexington Ave., New York, and at Griffin’s Manhattan residence. The company reportedly refused to accept the legal papers on Griffin’s behalf, alleging that the only option was to deliver the subpoena to the Chicago office.

As Yahoo Finance reports, on the same day Twitter directed subpoenas to Binance and a dozen of Musk’s other advisers and potential lenders in the deal. The subpoenas demand the receivers hand over communication evidence that might support or refute Musk’s suggestion that the social network has under-reported the number of fake or “spam” accounts present on the platform.

Related: Twitter lawyers up to force through Musk deal. Will it work?

Justifying his decision to exit the deal, Musk accused Twitter of concealing the actual number of fake/bot accounts, which in his estimate exceeds 5% of monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) — the mark claimed by social network’s management.

Twitter agrees that this number might be incorrect, but insists that it acknowledged possible errors before the negotiations were terminated by Musk. The company believes Musk’s grievance to be an artificial pretext for backing out of the deal.

The first hearing on Twitter’s suit will be held on Oct.17. The company intends to force Musk into completing the acquisition judicially.

In its quarterly report, Musk-led Tesla revealed the sellout of 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in Q2 2022. The revenue, taken in fiat money, is comprised of $936 million. At the same time, Musk, himself, hasn’t sold any of his personal Bitcoin stash while Tesla still has an estimated 10,800 BTC on its books.

Community-initiated ‘Bitcoin Stackchain’ exceeds $160K in one week

How one tweet about being “broke as hell” created a chain of community Bitcoin buys that exceeded six figures and counting.

The Bitcoin (BTC) community, or “plebs” as they are affectionately known, are a force to be reckoned with. They banded together in less than seven days to stack over $160,000, or 7 BTC, in a “stackchain.”

The so-called stackchain, a portmanteau of the blockchain (Bitcoin’s ledger) and stacking Sats (buying BTC), is a community-driven meme. The investment chain derived from one man’s desire to express the idea that buying Bitcoin every day and doing dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is essential to being a Bitcoiner.

ArizonanHodl, the Bitcoiner in question, told Cointelegraph contained that he would “eliminate any excuses” by posting a $5.00 purchase. Here is the original tweet:

Bitcoin buyers from around the world supported the gesture. They took the idea by the scruff of the neck and made it a movement. The community began stacking sats in increasing increments of $1.00 at a time. $5.00 became $6.00, $7.00, etc until the cumulative total passed the $100,000 mark over the Saturday weekend.

According to the stackchain’s official GitHub (because, of course, there is an official GitHub), Derek Ross explains that the stackchain is “just fun and shitposting with a little bit of Bitcoin lingo thrown in to make it more fun as we shitpost as we buy Bitcoin.”

However, the “bit of fun” grew exponentially. While Arizonan had set a goal of $10,000 for the bear market tomfoolery, in a matter of days, the plebs had stacked a whole BTC, or $22,000 at the time of writing:

“At that point, I thought people might think the goal had been reached and lose interest, but the exact opposite happened. Plebs started to FOMO into the stackchain!”

By Monday, the stackchain passed $150,000. Each “stack” is now well over half a grand. The incremental amounts will soon approach four-figure purchases, and the hype around the stack chain has caught the eye of Bitcoiners around the world. 

For those of humbler means, “stack joins,” or combined efforts from Bitcoiners working together to reach large Bitcoin buys, are possible. Plus, well-known Bitcoiners in the space, including Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin, have got in on the action:

Klippsten told Cointelegraph:

“The #stackchain is classic Bitcoin Twitter — something fun, exciting, just a tad competitive, and great for Bitcoin.”

Behind the scenes, the stackchain core developers — a riff on the Bitcoin core developers — keep the stackchain in check. A Telegram group of stackchainers, called the Lightstack Network, aids the organization and shares memes. “We need fun too,” says ArizonanHODL.

The Telegram group also endeavors to avoid stackchain forking. A fork occurs when the stackchain Twitter thread splits off and a stacker inadvertently “double spends.” An unwanted outcome, the forked stack can disrupt the orderly flow of stacks and must therefore be merged into the stack and validated by “nodes.”

Incidentally, the Twitter thread has become so congested by stacks that reportedly, Twitter servers are buckling under the 1000-long thread load. ArizonanHODL sums it up succinctly:

“The stackchain is actually quite complicated, but these plebs made it look effortless and had fun while doing it. It’s just such a cool thing to be a part of.”

But, why buy Bitcoin at all? Despite the price plummeting from the meme-worthy $69,000 to $17,000, analysts would suggest the macro backdrop is forming a healthy bottom. Bitcoin the asset is a savings technology and remains the best-performing asset of the past decade. ArizonanHODL that stacking sats is not just about money, though:  

“I stack for so many reasons. I stack for fun. I stack for my mental health. I stack for my future. I stack for my kids. I stack to defy central authority.”

Indeed, uundeterred by recent bearish price action, the stackchain may surge to greater highs. At the time of writing, the cost to “mine” on the stackchain approaches $600.

BREAKING: Elon Musk wants to terminate the $44B Twitter takeover

Twitter’s secrecy on fake and spam account numbers on the platform is the main reason for the tech mogul’s decision, a Friday letter revealed.

In an unexpected turn of events, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his intention to end the $44 billion Twitter deal via a letter sent to the board of the social media giant.

In short, one of the world’s richest man is not happy with the lack of information Twitter provided about spam and fake accounts. According to the letter, which is addressed to Twitter’s chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, Musk is terminating the merger because Twitter “appears to have made false and misleading representations,” which Musk used as a reference point for his decision.

Elon Musk initially agreed to purchase the crypto-friendly social media platform for $54.20 per share, or about $44 billion, in cash. The board of Twitter was happy with the decision, unanimously voting in favor of the deal that would make it a privately held company once again.

However, the letter filed for the SEC argued that Twitter was not very clear about two crucial data — Twitter’s process for auditing the inclusion of spam and fake accounts in monetizable daily active users (mDAU) as well as identifying and suspending such accounts. The social media giant was reportedly secretive about the daily measures of mDAU for the last two years. The letter reads:

“In short, Twitter has not provided information that Mr. Musk has requested for nearly two months notwithstanding his repeated, detailed clarifications intended to simplify Twitter’s identification, collection, and disclosure of the most relevant information sought in Mr. Musk’s original requests.”

The letter then claims that Twitter is breaching two sections of the merger agreement (Sections 6.4 and 6.11). The letter says the social media company has been on notice of its breach since June 6, and “any cure period afforded to Twitter under the Merger Agreement has now lapsed.”

However, the Twitter board is definitely not happy with Elon Musk terminating the agreement and abandoning the transaction. In a tweet, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor said that the board is looking to close the transaction on the previously agreed price and will pursue legal action if necessary. “We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery,” Taylor wrote.

In April 2022, Musk revealed his intent to remove all spam and scam bots accounts from Twitter if his $44 billion offer was accepted. His master plan to improve the social media platform also included introducing new features like the ability to edit tweets and view edit history. 

Related: Yuga Labs co-founder prewarns possible attack, claims Twitter insider involved

Over the past several years, Twitter account hacks and bots have contributed to numerous scam and phishing attempts. As of the latest, Yuga Labs co-founder, pseudonymously known as Gordon Goner, issued a warning about an orchestrated attack on its social media accounts while alleging the involvement of a Twitter insider.

Previously, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s crypto exchange Binance had committed $500 million to co-invest in Twitter along with Elon Musk.

Crypto users take to Twitter to lament the ongoing market downturn

What goes up must come down. And then go up again. Then come down again. And on and on and on…

Crypto traders and investors started out the week with a major shock to the markets. As assets across the blockchain industry went into a collective dive on Monday, users took to Twitter to voice their dismay (or in some cases jubilation) with the current state of crypto.

Inflation, potential interest rate hikes, a looming recession, and yet another DeFi fiasco have all contributed to the current onslaught seen in markets on Monday. As a result, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price plunged to levels not seen since late 2020, several crypto exchanges limited users from withdrawing their tokens, an increasing number of Web3-centric companies announced layoffs, and the floor prices of various nonfungible token (NFT) projects tumbled.

Taking a look at a few tweets from seasoned crypto enthusiasts shows the overall sentiment. Holding Bitcoin and alts is the true crypto investors’ theme, however, some appear to be experiencing a weakening of their supposed diamond hands. As one user noted:

The crypto space isn’t alone in its plight, with the entire stock market experiencing a major loss in tandem. Increased monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve has caused investors to sell off many types of stocks as the S&P 500 fell 4% to reach a new low for 2022.

Whales and former whales have begun to make their voices heard as the realization that they’ve lost a massive chunk of their wealth becomes evermore apparent.

Elsewhere on Twitter, some are trying to figure out their next best move for buying, selling, hodling, and trading in the larger crypto markets.

While technical analysis and projections are forever the keys to some traders, the current market dynamics have rendered traditional charting techniques virtually obsolete. Here is a chart one such crypto enthusiast offered up to explain the loss of confidence in technical indicators:


Yuga Labs co-founder prewarns possible attack, claims Twitter insider involved

Gordon Goner warned about a possible incoming attack after receiving “credible information” that an insider from Twitter would help bypass the security of the social media accounts.

Gordon Goner, pseudonymous co-founder of Yuga Labs, issued a warning about a possible incoming attack on their social media accounts under the Yuga Labs umbrella after receiving “credible information” that an insider from Twitter would help bypass the security of the accounts.

Yuga Labs, home to some of the most popular nonfungible tokens (NFTs) including the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Otherside, proactively approached Twitter for security after receiving information about a soon-to-happen orchestrated attack on its social media accounts.

Soon after warning the community, Twitter officials began actively monitoring the activities on the accounts in addition to fortifying their existing security. While issuing the proactive warning, Goner informed investors that the company would never conduct surprise mints — a popular method attackers use to lure in victims.

The popularity and public demand of Yuga Labs’ NFT offerings resulted in the inadvertent rise of ape-themed scams. On June 5, attackers managed to breach into Yuga Labs’ BAYC and OtherSide Discord groups and made away with over 145 Ether (ETH).

An investigation by blockchain detective OKHotshot revealed that the attack was conducted by hacking into the Discord account of Boris Vagner, community and social manager at Yuga Labs.

Related: Optimism loses 20M tokens after L1 and L2 confusion exploited

Optimism layer-2 scaling solution suffered a loss of 20 million OP tokens after falling victim to an exploit in its market maker’s smart contract.

Out of the lot, one million tokens valued at about $1.3 million were sold off and one million tokens valued at about $730,000 were transferred to Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum address on Optimism. The remaining 18 million tokens remain dormant and can be sold or used to sway governance decisions.

Dogecoin’s parents are fighting: Musk and Jackson Palmer exchange barbs

The world’s richest man and the co-founder of Dogecoin are sparring over whether the latter actually has a Python script that could put a huge dent in Twitter bot activity.

Billionaire Elon Musk and Dogecoin (DOGE) co-founder Jackson Palmer are locked in battle on social media over Palmer’s claim that he could remove Twitter bots with a simple Python script.

Australian Palmer said in an interview that his script was capable of automatically tweeting replies to scam tweets as a way of indicating that users should beware of the danger. He told news outlet Crikey on Monday that Musk had reached out to get the script but claimed the billionaire’s technical knowledge was so deficient that he didn’t know how to run it:

“Elon reached out to me to get hold of that script and it became apparent very quickly that he didn’t understand coding as well as he made out.”

Adding insult to injury, Palmer recounted a year ago calling the SpaceX founder a “grifter” who “sells a vision in hopes that he can one day deliver what he’s promising, but he doesn’t know that.”

Musk took the comments badly and fired back at Palmer on Tuesday on Twitter. He suggested Palmer’s code could not deliver on its promise of addressing the Twitter bot problem, adding “My kids wrote better code when they were 12:”

“You falsely claimed ur lame snippet of Python gets rid of bots. Ok buddy, then share it with the world …”

He challenged Palmer to make the script public, which would open it to greater scrutiny. Palmer has not yet done so.

On May 17, Musk tweeted that his deal to buy Twitter could not “move forward” unless Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal shows proof that less than 5% of the platform’s users are bots.

Palmer’s beef with Musk was all-too apparent during the interview with Crikey, where he claimed Musk intended to destroy Twitter rather than actually acquire it. He said Musk may actually just want to “drive it into the ground at a much lower price, and I think that’s what he’s doing.”

The DOGE co-founder left the project way back in 2015, and he harbors a deep resentment for the entire crypto industry, calling it an inequitable “cartel of wealthy figures” last year. Musk, meanwhile, is one of the memecoin’s biggest proponents and has been nicknamed the CEO of Dogecoin.

Related: ‘Yikes!’ Elon Musk warns users against latest deepfake crypto scam

The argument between Musk and Palmer comes just two days after Musk announced SpaceX would accept DOGE as payment for merchandise from the space exploration company on Sunday.

Investors of the major altcoin DOGE have not reacted to the spat between the two tech moguls, as it is down just 1.9% over the past 24 hours, trading at $0.086, according to CoinGecko.